Author: Danielle Wong
Wong, Danielle, 2020 Vortex fluidic mediated fabrication of natural fluorescence hydrogels based on quercetin and gelatine with tuneable properties, Flinders University, College of Science and Engineering
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Aluminium ions (Al3+) are a neurotoxin that is nowadays primarily found in foods such as baking products and consumer products. According to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and World Health Organisation (WHO), the minimum concentration of Al3+ allowed in a consumer product is between the range of 0.05-0.2 mg/L in drinking water. The limit of a person daily intake is approximately 3-10 mg depending on geographic and demographics. Some of the long term effects on human health include the development of Alzheimer disease and neurodegenerative diseases when humans ingest an excessive amount of Al3+. ((ATSDR), 2008, (WHO), 2010)
Widespread efforts are made to improve food safety and Al3+ detection such as developing food preservatives, antimicrobial packaging, and stimuli-responsive materials developed for in situ detection of food quality. Some traditional ways for sensing for Al3+ include fluorescent probes, test papers, chemo-sensors, and atomic absorption spectroscopy. However, these methods have some disadvantages, such as being time-consuming, expensive, and tedious synthetic processes. They are not always conventional, sensitive, accurate and robust in Al3+ detection.
The investigation of using a novel quercetin-gelatine hydrogel with natural fluorescence properties for the sensing/detecting of Al3+ will be done for this research. Where quercetin, a natural polymer with sensing properties will be used to detect Al3+. Gelatine is a natural polymer known to have heat-reversible ability; therefore, the effect of temperature can influence its physical properties.
Keywords: Hydrogel , Quercetin , Vortex Fluidic Device (VFD) , Aluminium ions , Gelatine , in-situ detection of Aluminium ions , Natural Polymers , Green Chemistry Polymers , Natural Fluorescence Hydrogels , Tuneable Properties , AIEgens , Fluorescence Properties, mechanical Properties, physical properties, swelling properties , Transmission and Absorption Spectra Properties , Photoluminescence Properties.
Subject: Engineering thesis
Thesis type: Masters
Completed: 2020
School: College of Science and Engineering
Supervisor: Youhong Tang