Towards a fluorescent chemoreceptive lipid membrane-based optode

Lipid membranes have been deposited on the surface of glass slides and quartz fibres for the development of optical chemical sensors. The fluorescence properties of probes embedded within ordered lipid matrices were sensitive to physical and electrostatic environmental alterations of the membrane caused by various non-selective processes. This work reports criteria for surface deposition of monolayers of phosphatidylcholine—steroid mixtures and stearic acid by Langmuir—Blodgett techniques. The fluorophores 1-anilinonaphthalene-8-sulphonate and 12-(9-anthroyloxy)stearic acid were incorporated into the monolayers for determination of the physical characteristics of the membranes. Interactions of the membranes with the perturbing species phloretin and valinomycin in aqueous solution, and with chloroform, n-hexane and N,N-dimethylaniline in the gas phase, are described. An evanescent-wave intrinsic fibre-optic sensor based on lipid membrane excitation is reported.