Abstract
Volume amplitude gratings made of mesoporous hydrogels are beneficial for sensing, but are difficult to fabricate because they involve creating high aspect ratio features in soft materials. A novel photofunctionalizable hydrogel is reported and its suitability for fabricating grating sensors is demonstrated comprising of features with an aspect ratio of ≈3.2. To make a photofunctionalizable hydrogel with high optical quality that can be patterned using widely available light sources, a water-soluble photoactive monomer and sensitizer are synthesized. A transmission amplitude grating is subsequently fabricated in a ≈100 µm thick photofunctionalizable hydrogel film by reaction of the free amines generated in the photoexposed regions with pH-responsive fluorescein isothiocyanate. The volume hydrogel grating described herein is shown to be suitable for real-time sensing of pH as an exemplar analyte. This work will have a significant impact on the fabrication of diffractive optical structures in thick films of hydrogels that are highly promising for biomolecular sensing in disease diagnosis and healthcare monitoring.
Original language | English |
---|---|
Article number | 1900228 |
Number of pages | 8 |
Journal | Macromolecular Chemistry and Physics |
Volume | 220 |
Issue number | 16 |
Early online date | 19 Jul 2019 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 19 Jul 2019 |
Keywords
- amplitude grating
- diffractive optics
- fabrication
- photofunctionalizable hydrogels
- real-time sensing
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Condensed Matter Physics
- Physical and Theoretical Chemistry
- Organic Chemistry
- Polymers and Plastics
- Materials Chemistry