title: Liquid Crystal Droplet-Embedded Biopolymer Hydrogel Sheets for Biosensor Applications.
abstract: The development of simple, portable, and low-cost biosensing platforms is of great interest in the clinical diagnosis of disease. Here, we report liquid crystal (LC) droplet-embedded chitosan (CHI) hydrogel films formed by the Ag(+) ion-triggered fast gelation of the CHI/surfactant complex-stabilized LC emulsion which is cast on substrates. The small sheets cut from the LC droplet-embedded hydrogel films combine the advantages of both hydrogels and LC droplets, offering a portable and label-free sensing platform for the real-time detection of bile acids in a small amount of solution. We find that the response time and detection limit of LC droplet-embedded hydrogel sheets for bile acids depend on their chemical structures.
authors.affiliation: Advanced Materials Processing and Analysis Center, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Central Florida , Orlando, Florida 32816, United States.
authors.forename: Jinan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Deng
authors.affiliation: Advanced Materials Processing and Analysis Center, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Central Florida , Orlando, Florida 32816, United States.
authors.forename: Wenlang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.affiliation: Advanced Materials Processing and Analysis Center, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Central Florida , Orlando, Florida 32816, United States.
authors.forename: Jiyu
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Fang
mesh_terms: D015374:Biosensing Techniques; D020100:Hydrogels / Q000737:chemistry*; D050866:Liquid Crystals / Q000737:chemistry*; D012834:Silver / Q000737:chemistry*; D013501:Surface-Active Agents / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D020100:Hydrogels; D013501:Surface-Active Agents; D012834:Silver
keywords: bile acids; biopolymers; hydrogel sheets; liquid crystals; sensors