Behaviour Of Cryptophane Molecules In Gas Media

The synthetic molecules of the cryptophane family present in solution the property to capture selectively neutral molecular species, the size of which is well adapted to the host cavity. Specially, cryptophane A, the smallest of the serie exhibited an amazing affinity towards methane. In this work, the behavior of cryptophanes deposited on substrates and put in contact with gas (methane, air, hydrogen) has been investigated in view to determine their potential properties as new chemical receptors in sensor application. Preliminary results show the influence of the deposition technique on the response of device. Elaboration of mixed L.B. layer including cryptophanes seems to be a promissing way and give a specific signature of the interactions between cryptophanes A and methane.