Cholesteric Liquid Crystals for Ultratrace PFAS Detection
Abstract
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are persistent, mobile water contaminants associated with adverse effects on human health and ecosystems. Current analytical methods require specialized instrumentation, complicating their on-site detection at ultratrace concentrations across distributed water infrastructures. Here we integrate fluorophilic partitioning and proton-responsive recognition within a cholesteric liquid crystal (CLC). The fluorinated component promotes selectivity over non-fluorinated structural analogues, whereas the pyridine receptor transduces protonation into changes in helical organization and reflected color. The formulation was confined within monodisperse spherical droplets and processed as a photocurable photonic ink to produce sensing strips with a strong reflection signal readable by portable fiber-optic spectroscopy. The platform detected five PFAS through concentration-dependent blue-shifts, reaching detection limits of 5.9 parts per trillion (ppt) without sample preconcentration and maintaining comparable performance across three water matrices. Coupling molecular recognition to collective supramolecular reorganization establishes CLCs as promising sensing materials for on-site ultratrace PFAS detection.
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BibTeX
@misc{veraarevalo2026cholesteric,
title = {{Cholesteric Liquid Crystals for Ultratrace PFAS Detection}},
author = {Mauricio Vera-Arévalo and Alberto Concellón},
howpublished = {ChemRxiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.26434/chemrxiv.15010263/v1},
url = {https://chemrxiv.org/doi/full/10.26434/chemrxiv.15010263/v1},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Cholesteric Liquid Crystals for Ultratrace PFAS Detection
AU - Mauricio Vera-Arévalo
AU - Alberto Concellón
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/12
PB - ChemRxiv
DO - 10.26434/chemrxiv.15010263/v1
UR - https://chemrxiv.org/doi/full/10.26434/chemrxiv.15010263/v1
AB - Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are persistent, mobile water contaminants associated with adverse effects on human health and ecosystems. Current analytical methods require specialized instrumentation, complicating their on-site detection at ultratrace concentrations across distributed water infrastructures. Here we integrate fluorophilic partitioning and proton-responsive recognition within a cholesteric liquid crystal (CLC). The fluorinated component promotes selectivity over non-fluorinated structural analogues, whereas the pyridine receptor transduces protonation into changes in helical organization and reflected color. The formulation was confined within monodisperse spherical droplets and processed as a photocurable photonic ink to produce sensing strips with a strong reflection signal readable by portable fiber-optic spectroscopy. The platform detected five PFAS through concentration-dependent blue-shifts, reaching detection limits of 5.9 parts per trillion (ppt) without sample preconcentration and maintaining comparable performance across three water matrices. Coupling molecular recognition to collective supramolecular reorganization establishes CLCs as promising sensing materials for on-site ultratrace PFAS detection.
ER -