Reactive thin film coatings on catalyst libraries for high throughput screening

A method of simultaneously testing catalytic activity of a plurality of catalyst, comprising:

• depositing a plurality of nanoreactors on a substrate and subjecting the nanoreactors to conditions sufficient to form a catalyst within each of the nanoreactors, each catalyst being tested for a target catalytic activity;
• attaching one or more reactive probes to each of the plurality of nanoreactors, each reactive probe comprising a signaling component that generates an optical signal upon reaction of the one or more reactive probes with a product of the target catalytic activity, thereby allowing sensing and signaling of the product of the target catalytic activity;
• subjecting the plurality of nanoreactors having the catalyst formed therein and the reactive probes attached thereto to conditions corresponding to the target catalytic activity;
• imaging the substrate for the optical signal after subjecting the plurality of nanoreactors to the catalysis conditions, wherein presence of the optical signal is indicative of catalysts in the corresponding region of the optical signal being active for the target catalytic activity.

A method of analyzing catalysts stability, comprising:

• depositing a plurality of catalysts on a substrate, each of the catalysts comprising a metal cation;
• coating substrate having the plurality of catalysts with a polymer thin film comprising one or more reactive probes to form a coated substrate, each reactive probe comprising a signaling component that generates an optical signal upon reaction of the one or more reactive probes with the metal cation, thereby allowing sensing and signaling of catalyst degradation through metal cation loss;
• subjecting the coated substrate to catalysis conditions;
• imaging the coated substrate for the optical signal after subjecting the coated pattern to the catalysis conditions, wherein presence of the optical signal in one or more regions of the coated substrate is indicative of loss of metal cations during catalysis and thereby catalysts instability.

A method of monitoring a catalysis reaction, comprising:

• depositing a plurality of nanoreactors on a substrate and subjecting the nanoreactors to conditions sufficient to form a catalyst within each of the nanoreactors, each catalyst capable of generating target catalytic activity, wherein the target catalytic activity results in a change of pH around the nanoreactors;
• attaching one or more pH-sensitive signaling components to each of the plurality of nanoreactors, each pH-sensitive signaling components having an optical signal intensity that increases or decreases with the change in pH resulting from the target catalytic activity;
• subjecting the plurality of nanoreactors having the catalyst formed therein and the one or more pH-sensitive signaling components attached thereto to conditions corresponding to the target catalytic activity;
• imaging the substrate for the optical signal after subjecting the plurality of nanoreactors to the catalysis conditions, wherein the target catalytic activity is characterized through the change in the optical signal intensity resulting from change in pH from the target catalytic activity.