Dyes assay for measuring physicochemical parameters

A combination of selective fluorescent dyes has been developed for simultaneous quantitative measurements of several physicochemical parameters. The operating principle of the assay is similar to electronic nose and tongue systems, which combine nonspecific or semispecific elements for the determination of diverse analytes and chemometric techniques for multivariate data analysis. The analytical capability of the proposed mixture is engendered by changes in fluorescence signal in response to changes in environment such as pH, temperature, ionic strength, and presence of oxygen. The signal is detected by a three-dimensional spectrofluorimeter, and the acquired data are processed using an artificial neural network (ANN) for multivariate calibration. The fluorescence spectrum of a solution of selected dyes allows discreet reading of emission maxima of all dyes composing the mixture. The variations in peaks intensities caused by environmental changes provide distinctive fluorescence patterns which can be handled in the same way as the signals collected from nose/tongue electrochemical or piezoelectric devices. This optical system opens possibilities for rapid, inexpensive, real-time detection of a multitude of physicochemical parameters and analytes of complex samples.