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  • Essay / Roadside testing for tetrahydrocannabinol (thc) using a smart breath analyzer

    Marijuana or cannabis becomes legal in North America and many countries around the world. About 23 states and the District of Columbia in the United States have recently legalized the medical use of cannabis. Four states (Alaska, Colorado, Oregon and Washington) have even legalized its recreational use. Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) is one of the most psychoactive agents in cannabis that causes driving intoxication. There is a need to develop portable tools for better detection of THC-influenced drivers to keep our roads safe. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay To date, several detection techniques have been reported to identify THC in blood, urine, hair, sweat, and saliva. But most of these analyzes depend on the laboratory. The use of bulky equipment such as chromatography and mass spectroscopy to analyze THC in blood samples makes it incompatible with roadside testing. Additionally, the most commonly used urine tests do not detect THC immediately after cannabis consumption. Recently, Stanford researchers developed a mobile “potalyzer” based on magnetic biosensors to detect tiny THC molecules in human saliva. Additionally, police officers could collect saliva with a cotton swab, test the saliva using magnetoresistive biosensors, and read the results on an embedded smartphone. However, the origin of THC in saliva is believed to be from oral mucosal deposits rather than blood. Next, consuming cannabis through edibles will make it difficult to detect THC in saliva. Currently, there is no portable device on the market that can quickly and accurately identify a driver's THC intoxication as effectively as a breathalyzer for alcohol intoxication. Here, we proposed a field-effect transistor-based biosensor technology that facilitates rapid and accurate measurement of THC intoxication from driver's breath. The detection technique is based on the change in conductivity in MoS2 nanosheets due to the interaction between THC molecules and MoS2 via anti-THC antibodies and gold nanoparticles (AuNPs). Proposed biosensor for detecting THC: To fabricate the MoS2 EFT biosensor, the chemically exfoliated few-layer MoS2 dispersion will be deposited on a 200 nm Si/SiO2 substrate. 80 nm of Au will be deposited as source and drain electrodes. 10 nm Au NPs will be deposited on the surface of MoS2 film by DC sputtering. Then, 5 μL of anti-THC antibody solution at 5 μg/mL will be injected onto the active area of ​​the device, and incubated for 15 minutes at room temperature. Finally, the device will be rinsed with DI water to remove unbound antibodies and dried with a shot of N2. Keep in mind: this is just a sample. Get a personalized paper now from our expert writers. Get a personalized essay. AuNPs are used to bind anti-THC antibodies on the MoS2 surface. The anti-THC antibody acts as a docking site for THC molecules. Electrons are transferred from the negatively charged oxygen in THC to AuNPs and then from AuNPs to MoS2, resulting in an increased concentration of electrons in the MoS2 nanosheets. Thus, the electrical conductivity in the n-type MoS2 channel will increase with exposure to THC. The high affinity of anti-THC antibodies towards THC will make the biosensor more selective. Although there is no limit..