Patent ID: 7291503

Claim:
A method for detecting the presence of an analyte in a sample, comprising the steps of: measuring the conductivity of a first mixture comprising aqueous or organic media and a sensor; wherein said sensor comprises a plurality of alternating conducting domains and complexing domains; wherein each complexing domain independently consists of a metal ion and a complexing agent selected from the group consisting of N,N′-ethylenebis(salicylidenimine), phthalocyanine, (2-thiophen-5-yl)porphyrin and (3-thiophen-5-yl)porphyrin; wherein each conducting domain is independently selected from the group consisting of a bond, carbon nanotube, carbon nanowire, carbon fiber, gold particle, poly N,N′-ethylenebis(salicylidenimine), polyphthalocyanine, poly(2-thiophen-5-yl)porphyrin, poly(3-thiophen-5-yl)porohyrin, polyaniline, polythiophene, polypyrrole, polyphenylene, polyarylene, poly(bisthiophene phenylene), conjugated ladder polymer, polyiptycene, polytriphenylene, poly(arylene vinylene), and poly(arylene ethynylene); adding to said first mixture said sample optionally containing an analyte to generate a second mixture; measuring the conductivity of said second mixture; determining whether an analyte is present in said sample by comparing the conductivity of said first mixture to the conductivity of said second mixture.