Detection of Trace Amounts of Water in Organic Solvents by DNA-Based Nanomechanical Sensors
Tomohiro Murata,
Kosuke Minami,
Tomohiko Yamazaki,
Genki Yoshikawa,
Katsuhiko Ariga
Affiliations
Tomohiro Murata
Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, The University of Tokyo, 5-1-5 Kashiwanoha, Kashiwa 277-8561, Japan
Kosuke Minami
Center for Functional Sensor & Actuator (CFSN), Research Center for Functional Materials (RCFM), National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS), 1-1 Namiki, Tsukuba 305-0044, Japan
Tomohiko Yamazaki
Research Center for Functional Materials (RCFM), National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS), 1-2-1 Sengen, Tsukuba 305-0047, Japan
Genki Yoshikawa
Center for Functional Sensor & Actuator (CFSN), Research Center for Functional Materials (RCFM), National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS), 1-1 Namiki, Tsukuba 305-0044, Japan
Katsuhiko Ariga
Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, The University of Tokyo, 5-1-5 Kashiwanoha, Kashiwa 277-8561, Japan
The detection of trace amounts of water in organic solvents is of great importance in the field of chemistry and in the industry. Karl Fischer titration is known as a classic method and is widely used for detecting trace amounts of water; however, it has some limitations in terms of rapid and direct detection because of its time-consuming sample preparation and specific equipment requirements. Here, we found that a DNA-based nanomechanical sensor exhibits high sensitivity and selectivity to water vapor, leading to the detection and quantification of trace amounts of water in organic solvents as low as 12 ppm in THF, with a ppb level of LoD through their vapors. Since the present method is simple and rapid, it can be an alternative technique to the conventional Karl Fischer titration.
