title: Thin hydrogel films for optical biosensor applications.
abstract: Hydrogel materials consisting of water-swollen polymer networks exhibit a large number of specific properties highly attractive for a variety of optical biosensor applications. This properties profile embraces the aqueous swelling medium as the basis of biocompatibility, non-fouling behavior, and being not cell toxic, while providing high optical quality and transparency. The present review focuses on some of the most interesting aspects of surface-attached hydrogel films as active binding matrices in optical biosensors based on surface plasmon resonance and optical waveguide mode spectroscopy. In particular, the chemical nature, specific properties, and applications of such hydrogel surface architectures for highly sensitive affinity biosensors based on evanescent wave optics are discussed. The specific class of responsive hydrogel systems, which can change their physical state in response to externally applied stimuli, have found large interest as sophisticated materials that provide a complex behavior to hydrogel-based sensing devices.
authors: Foundation for Research and Technology-Hellas (FORTH), Institute of Electronic Structure & Laser (IESL), Bio-Organic Materials Chemistry Laboratory (BOMCLab), Nikolaou Plastira 100, Vassilika Vouton, Heraklion 71110, Crete, Greece. mateescu@iesl.forth.gr.
authors: Anca
authors: A
authors: Mateescu
authors: AIT Austrian Institute of Technology GmbH, Muthgasse 11, Vienna 1190, Austria. Yi.Wang.fl@ait.ac.at.
authors: Yi
authors: Y
authors: Wang
authors: AIT Austrian Institute of Technology GmbH, Muthgasse 11, Vienna 1190, Austria. jakub.dostalek@ait.ac.at.
authors: Jakub
authors: J
authors: Dostalek
authors: Foundation for Research and Technology-Hellas (FORTH), Institute of Electronic Structure & Laser (IESL), Bio-Organic Materials Chemistry Laboratory (BOMCLab), Nikolaou Plastira 100, Vassilika Vouton, Heraklion 71110, Crete, Greece. ujonas@iesl.forth.gr.
authors: Ulrich
authors: U
authors: Jonas