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Integrated 3D hydrogel waveguide out-coupler by step-and-repeat thermal nanoimprint lithography: A promising sensor device for water and pH

Integrated 3D hydrogel waveguide out-coupler by step-and-repeat thermal nanoimprint lithography: A promising sensor device for water and pH
Integrated 3D hydrogel waveguide out-coupler by step-and-repeat thermal nanoimprint lithography: A promising sensor device for water and pH

Hydrogel materials offer many advantages for chemical and biological sensoring due to their response to a small change in their environment with a related change in volume. Several designs have been outlined in the literature in the specific field of hydrogel-based optical sensors, reporting a large number of steps for their fabrication. In this work we present a three-dimensional, hydrogel-based sensor the structure of which is fabricated in a single step using thermal nanoimprint lithography. The sensor is based on a waveguide with a grating readout section. A specific hydrogel formulation, based on a combination of PEGDMA (Poly(Ethylene Glycol DiMethAcrylate)), NIPAAm (N-IsoPropylAcrylAmide), and AA (Acrylic Acid), was developed. This stimulus-responsive hydrogel is sensitive to pH and to water. Moreover, the hydrogel has been modified to be suitable for fabrication by thermal nanoimprint lithography. Once stimulated, the hydrogel-based sensor changes its topography, which is characterised physically by AFM and SEM, and optically using a specific optical set-up.

Hydrogel, pH sensor, Thermal nanoimprint lithography, Water sensor, Waveguide
1424-8220
Francone, Achille
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Kehoe, Timothy
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Obieta, Isabel
1b018c77-1b9c-47fe-8abd-357790c624f1
Saez-Martinez, Virginia
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Bilbao, Leire
e93286fa-849a-4dae-b55b-086d59ef587b
Khokhar, Ali Z.
2eedd1cc-8ac5-4f8e-be25-930bd3eae396
Gadegaard, Nikolaj
bf72c3d1-e6a7-48b4-a968-c496b655bd98
Simao, Claudia Delgado
301df35d-eb02-41e3-948f-280e44726550
Kehagias, Nikolaos
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Sotomayor Torres, Clivia M.
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Francone, Achille
2de2c9e7-899f-4592-86b6-b29e947b60dc
Kehoe, Timothy
dda59996-f2c9-4969-aa4d-45dc0485d0e3
Obieta, Isabel
1b018c77-1b9c-47fe-8abd-357790c624f1
Saez-Martinez, Virginia
1686addb-b718-4008-a658-8665d2808578
Bilbao, Leire
e93286fa-849a-4dae-b55b-086d59ef587b
Khokhar, Ali Z.
2eedd1cc-8ac5-4f8e-be25-930bd3eae396
Gadegaard, Nikolaj
bf72c3d1-e6a7-48b4-a968-c496b655bd98
Simao, Claudia Delgado
301df35d-eb02-41e3-948f-280e44726550
Kehagias, Nikolaos
9157dd6c-ed45-402d-8342-83dad2fc821e
Sotomayor Torres, Clivia M.
a7e74d42-58c9-4b7c-9f8e-8dff0d7801f7

Francone, Achille, Kehoe, Timothy, Obieta, Isabel, Saez-Martinez, Virginia, Bilbao, Leire, Khokhar, Ali Z., Gadegaard, Nikolaj, Simao, Claudia Delgado, Kehagias, Nikolaos and Sotomayor Torres, Clivia M. (2018) Integrated 3D hydrogel waveguide out-coupler by step-and-repeat thermal nanoimprint lithography: A promising sensor device for water and pH. Sensors (Switzerland), 18 (10), [3240]. (doi:10.3390/s18103240).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Hydrogel materials offer many advantages for chemical and biological sensoring due to their response to a small change in their environment with a related change in volume. Several designs have been outlined in the literature in the specific field of hydrogel-based optical sensors, reporting a large number of steps for their fabrication. In this work we present a three-dimensional, hydrogel-based sensor the structure of which is fabricated in a single step using thermal nanoimprint lithography. The sensor is based on a waveguide with a grating readout section. A specific hydrogel formulation, based on a combination of PEGDMA (Poly(Ethylene Glycol DiMethAcrylate)), NIPAAm (N-IsoPropylAcrylAmide), and AA (Acrylic Acid), was developed. This stimulus-responsive hydrogel is sensitive to pH and to water. Moreover, the hydrogel has been modified to be suitable for fabrication by thermal nanoimprint lithography. Once stimulated, the hydrogel-based sensor changes its topography, which is characterised physically by AFM and SEM, and optically using a specific optical set-up.

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sensors-18-03240 - Version of Record
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More information

Accepted/In Press date: 20 September 2018
e-pub ahead of print date: 26 September 2018
Published date: 1 October 2018
Keywords: Hydrogel, pH sensor, Thermal nanoimprint lithography, Water sensor, Waveguide

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 425576
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/425576
ISSN: 1424-8220
PURE UUID: 477fbe8c-52f0-48e9-bdca-751009429c8a

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Date deposited: 25 Oct 2018 16:30
Last modified: 17 Mar 2024 12:13

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Contributors

Author: Achille Francone
Author: Timothy Kehoe
Author: Isabel Obieta
Author: Virginia Saez-Martinez
Author: Leire Bilbao
Author: Ali Z. Khokhar
Author: Nikolaj Gadegaard
Author: Claudia Delgado Simao
Author: Nikolaos Kehagias
Author: Clivia M. Sotomayor Torres

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