Henning Paul E, Rigo M Veronica, Geissinger Peter
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 3210 North Cramer Street, Milwaukee, WI 53212, USA.
ScientificWorldJournal. 2012;2012:876106. doi: 10.1100/2012/876106. Epub 2012 May 2.
A highly porous optical-fiber cladding was developed for evanescent-wave fiber sensors, which contains sensor molecules, maintains guiding conditions in the optical fiber, and is suitable for sensing in aqueous environments. To make the cladding material (a poly(ethylene) glycol diacrylate (PEGDA) polymer) highly porous, a microsphere templating strategy was employed. The resulting pore network increases transport of the target analyte to the sensor molecules located in the cladding, which improves the sensor response time. This was demonstrated using fluorescein-based pH sensor molecules, which were covalently attached to the cladding material. Scanning electron microscopy was used to examine the structure of the templated polymer and the large network of interconnected pores. Fluorescence measurements showed a tenfold improvement in the response time for the templated polymer and a reliable pH response over a pH range of five to nine with an estimated accuracy of 0.08 pH units.
一种用于倏逝波光纤传感器的高孔隙率光纤包层被开发出来，它包含传感器分子，能维持光纤中的导光条件，并且适用于在水环境中进行传感。为了使包层材料（聚乙二醇二丙烯酸酯（PEGDA）聚合物）具有高孔隙率，采用了微球模板策略。由此产生的孔隙网络增加了目标分析物向位于包层中的传感器分子的传输，从而缩短了传感器响应时间。使用基于荧光素的pH传感器分子对此进行了验证，这些分子被共价连接到包层材料上。利用扫描电子显微镜检查了模板聚合物的结构以及相互连接的大孔隙网络。荧光测量结果表明，模板聚合物的响应时间提高了十倍，并且在pH值为5至9的范围内具有可靠的pH响应，估计精度为0.08个pH单位。
