Synthesis of water-soluble conjugated polymer, poly(N-3-sulfopropylaniline) and the study of its glucose sensing property

Abstract

A water-soluble conjugated polymer, poly(N-3-sulfopropylaniline) (PSPA) with 7–10 controlled repeating units has been synthesized through oxidative polymerization of sulfopropylaniline (SPA) monomer, which is prepared by N-alkylation of aniline using 3-propane sultone. The glass transition temperature (T_g), thermal stability, molecular weight and size distribution of the synthesized polymer were investigated by DSC, TGA and MALDI TOFF respectively. The spectral (UV-Vis, PL, NMR, FTIR) analysis has been done to develop a facile colorimetric method to sense glucose (a biomarker of diabetes). The synthesized polymers could detect glucose up to nanomolar (10⁻⁹ M), which are 10⁶ fold less than the level of a diabetic patient (4 × 10⁻³-9 × 10⁻³ M). It is also observed that the naked eye can sense up to decimolar (10⁻¹ M) level. The polymerization process and the chemistry of colorimetric sensing are explained through spectral and cyclic voltammetry analysis. The polymerization and the sensing of glucose occurred through the electron transfer dependent color change processes.

Graphical abstract

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