Detection of CrO42- Using a Hydrogel Swelling Microcantilever Sensor

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Abstract
Hydrogels containing various mounts of tetraalkylammonium salts were used to modify microcantilevers for measurements of the concentration of CrO42- in aqueous solutions. These microcantilevers undergo bending deflection upon exposure to solutions containing various CrO42- concentrations as a result of swelling or shrinking of the hydrogels. The microcantilever deflection as a function of the concentration of CrO42- ions is nearly linear in most concentration ranges. It was found that a concentration of 10-11 M CrO42- can be detected using this technology in a fluid cell. Other ions, such as Br-, HPO42-, and NO3-, have minimal effect on the deflection of this cantilever. The anions SO42- and CO32- could interfere with the CrO42- detection, but only at high concentrations (>10-5 M). Such hydrogel-coated microcantilevers could potentially be used to prepare microcantilever-based chemical and biological sensors when molecular recognition agents are immobilized in the hydrogel.