Carbon-rich monolayers on ITO as highly sensitive platforms for detecting polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in water: The case of pyrene

The determination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in water at low levels is a current challenge given their great impact on the health and safety of the public. Here, a novel pyrene-based self-assembled monolayer (SAM) platform is exploited as PAH sensing recognition device. Interestingly, the formation of π-π sandwich complexes between PAHs and the recognition element switches the surface electron transfer capability. The unique supramolecular interaction between identical aromatic molecules provides a highly sensitive and selective sensor for pyrene in the order of part per trillion. Accordingly, and using pyrene as a proof-of-concept, this work presents the basis for an 'at-point-of-use' impedimetric sensor focused on a highly sensitive carbon-based SAM for PAHs determination in water at ultra-trace levels.This work was funded by the ERC StG 2012-306826 e-GAMES. The authors also thank the ITN iSwitch 642196 project, Networking Research Center on Bioengineering, Biomaterials, and Nanomedicine (CIBER-BBN), the DGI (Spain) project FANCY CTQ2016-80030-R, the Generalitat de Catalunya (2014-SGR-17) and the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness, through the “Severo Ochoa” Programme for Centers of Excellence in R&D (SEV-2015-0496).Peer reviewe