Hydrogel thin film preparation

Although polymerization of NIPAAm has been extensively investigated in the past using free radical initiator, this method can not be used for the preparation of thin films. Thin hydrogels films can find applications as microfluidic devices for sensors and actuators in case patterning is possible. This problem can be solved by preparing gel films from narrowly distributed microgel particles (Zhou and Wu... 

Possibly the best way to obtain transmission spectra from hydrogels is to prepare a capillary thin film onto a water-insoluble and IR-transparent window. The preparation of capillary films is simple a drop or smear of the hydrogel sample is placed onto the window and a second window is placed on the top of the first. The resulting sandwich is placed in the IR beam. 

Thin layers on microtiter plate wells The microtiter plate format is universally employed in biological immunoassays such as ELISA and enables a very high assay throughput, in particular when combined with automation. Thus, thin layers ofMIPs in microtiter plate wells are of immense interest for MIAs involving colorimetric or fluorescence detection. Two approaches have been described the entrapment of 2,4-D-imprinted vinylpyridine/TRIM microspheres in films of polyvinylalcohol hydrogel [53] and the preparation of imprinted poly-3-aminophenylboronic acid and related conjugated polymers which precipitate as films on the microwell surface [19,54]. The polyvinyl alcohol composite films have been used in combination with... 

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