<br/>Colloidal microgels have many unique properties, making them advantageous for a variety of medical applications including bioanalytical sensors. These properties include a highly porous structure which allows for solvent swelling and the ability to respond to environmental stimuli. The purpose of this project is to design and synthesize N-isopropylacrylamide (NIPAM) polymer microgels that can be implemented as templates for water-in-oil droplet formation for use in single-molecule enzymology experiments and digital biosensing. The development of single-molecule bioanalytical sensors presents significant challenges such as synthesizing microgels of optimal size, the attachment of a single molecule per microgel, encapsulating individual microgels in oil, and designing simple microfluidic devices for imaging microgel arrays with fluorescence microscopy. Here, we report the development of colloidal microgels, which are modified with biotin, followed by the attachment of the enzyme β-galactosidase to the biotinylated microgels. Microgels were then resuspended in fluorescein di(β-D-galactopyranoside), followed by the addition of fluorinated oil to produce water-in-oil droplets. Microgels are then encapsulated within a water-in-oil droplet for use in single-molecule bioanalytical sensors. A fluorescent signal was produced via a hydrolysis reaction of the substrate and the signal was characterized using fluorescence microscopy. Various microfluidic devices were tested to find the simplest method for imaging microgel arrays. These results demonstrate the versatility of NIPAM microgels in developing new biosensing technologies.

Design of colloidal microgels toward single-molecule bioanalytical sensors

Where thousands of chemistry professionals meet to share ideas and advance scientific and technical knowledge. Spring 2023 abstracts, posters, and presentations will launch at the end of March.

ACS Spring 2023

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.