Electronic tongues just got simpler

Until now, electronic tongues—devices used to identify dissolved substances in liquids—have been hard to make because each of the tongues’ chemical receptors (between 10 and 30) had to be synthesized independently. But scientists at the French Nanoscience and Cryogenics Institute (INAC) have found a way to sidestep this lengthy process by using the combined response of an array of different receptors, each made from mixtures of two to four molecular building blocks. Their method was inspired by the way in which heparan sulfates (naturally-occurring polysaccharides) recognize different proteins on cell surfaces.
The combination of signals from the chemically-similar receptors is used to generate a 2D or 3D profile of each substance being detected; these profiles can then be easily analyzed and incorporated into a configuration process. The scientists have filed a patent application for their work, which was published in the international chemical-industry journal Angewandte Chemie.

Contact: yanxia.hou-broutin@cea.fr

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