The changes in surface wettability induced by immobilized polyvinylferrocene (PVFc) and poly(2-(methacryloyloxy)ethyl ferrocenecarboxylate) (PFcMA) on silica wafers were studied after oxidation with two different oxidation reagents. Surface-attached PFcMA was accessible by applying a surface-initiated atom transfer radical polymerization (SI-ATRP) protocol, while end-functionalized PVFc was immobilized by using a grafting onto approach. In the case of PFcMA, a remarkable contact angle (CA) drop for water of approximately 70°after oxidation could be observed, while the effect for immobilized PVFc after oxidation was less pronounced (CA drop of approximately 30°). In the case of PFcMA, the effect of chain length was additionally studied, showing a more significant CA drop for PFcMA chains with higher molar masses.
Controlling structure and function to switch ionic transport through synthetic membranes is a major challenge in the fabrication of functional nanodevices. Here we describe the combination of mesoporous silica thin fi lms as structural unit, functionalized with two different redox-responsive ferrocene-containing polymers, polyvinylferrocene (PVFc) and poly(2-(methacryloyloxy)ethyl ferrocenecarboxylate) (PFcMA), by using either a grafting to, or a grafting from approach. Both mesoporous fi lm functionalization strategies are investigated in terms of polymer effect on ionic permselectivity. A signifi cantly different ionic permselective behavior can be observed. This is attributed to different polymer location within the mesoporous fi lm, depending on the functionalization strategies used. Additionally, the infl uence of chemical oxidation on the ionic permselective behavior is studied by cyclic voltammetry showing a redox-controlled membrane gating as function of polymer location and the pH value. This study is a fi rst step of combining redox-responsive ferrocene-containing polymers and mesoporous membranes, and thus towards redox-controlled ionic transport through nanopores.
A new biosensor based on surface plasmon-enhanced fluorescence spectroscopy (SPFS), which employs long-range surface plasmons (LRSP) and a photo-cross-linkable carboxymethyl dextran (PCDM) hydrogel binding matrix, is reported. LRSPs are surface plasmon modes that propagate along a thin metallic film with orders of magnitude lower damping compared to regular surface plasmons. Therefore, their excitation provides strong enhancement of the intensity of the electromagnetic field and a greatly increased fluorescence signal measured upon binding of fluorophore-labeled molecules on the sensor surface. In addition, these modes exhibit highly extended evanescent fields penetrating up to micrometers in distance from the metallic sensor surface. Therefore, a PCDM hydrogel with approximately micrometer thickness was anchored on the sensor surface to serve as the binding matrix. We show that this approach provides large binding capacity and allows for the ultrasensitive detection. In a model experiment, the developed biosensor platform was applied for the detection of free prostate specific antigen (f-PSA) in buffer and human serum by using a sandwich immunoassay. The limit of detection at the low femtomolar range was achieved, which is approximately 4 orders of magnitude lower than that for direct detection of f-PSA based on the monitoring of binding-induced refractive index changes.
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