Capillaries filled with Porous Media for Analyte Enrichment and Analysis: From Capture and Release Processes To Multiplex Detection

The detection of specific molecules in samples is of great interest in a variety of fields and applications such as food safety, environmental analysis, and medical diagnostics. However, the analysis of such markers is often difficult because in many cases they are found at very low concentrations and in complex sample matrices (e.g., blood, urine, beer) in which the presence of highly abundant molecules strongly influences the analytical process. Therefore, to facilitate qualitative analysis or quantification, a specific enrichment/analysis process is necessary. To reach this goal, this work presents a platform consisting of a capillary in which highly specific porous hydrogel materials are generated from photoreactive copolymers. Such a platform allows the immobilization of a large number of capture molecules, which exhibit strong interactions between the prepared analytical surfaces and the analyte during sample flow.

While in the first part of the work, the platform is successfully demonstrated at the example of the enrichment of dopamine from biological fluids and diacetyl from alcoholic beverages, in the second part of the work, it is successfully used for the simultaneous detection of antibodies such as immunoglobulins G and M in case of Lyme disease.