Color-Indicating, Label-Free, Dye-Doped Liquid Crystal Organic-Polymer-Based-Bioinspired Sensor for Biomolecule Immunodetection

Abstract

The highly sensitive interfacial effects between liquid crystal (LC) and alignment layers make LC-bioinspired sensors an important technology. However, LC-bioinspired sensors are limited by quantification requiring a polarized microscope and expensive equipment, which makes it difficult to commercialize LC-bioinspired sensors. In this report, we first demonstrate that dye-doped LC (DDLC) chips coated with vertically aligned layers can be employed as a new LC-bioinspired sensing technology. The DDLC-bioinspired sensor was tested by detecting bovine serum albumin (BSA) and immunocomplexes of BSA pairs. The intensities of the dye color of the DDLC-bioinspired sensor can be changed with the concentrations of biomolecules and immunocomplexes. A detection limit of 0.5 µg/mL was shown for the color-indicating DDLC-bioinspired sensors. We also designed a new method to use the quantitative DDLC-bioinspired sensor with a smart-phone for potential of home test. The novel DDLC-bioinspired sensor is cheap, label-free, and easy to use, furthering the technology for home and field-based disease-related detection.

Dielectric Thermal Smart Glass Based on Tunable Helical Polymer-Based Superstructure for Biosensor with Antibacterial Property

“…Once rinsed with DI water to remove unbound BSA, the cells of each DTSG were self-assembled with a 10 μm spacer. The details of the BSA solution immobilization and device fabrication can be found in past publications [ 17 , 18 ]. The DFCLC changed to the P state with increasing concentrations of BSA.…”

“…The transmittance correlation and Bragg reflection of various BSA concentrations is also displayed in Figure 6 . The experiment results show that the transmittance (Bragg reflection) of DTSG in the light spectrum could be used to detect and quantitate the biomolecules in this manner [ 18 ]. Therefore, this concludes that the BSA concentration cannot be detected by more than 8 μg/mL.…”

Design and Self-Assembling Behaviour of Calamitic Reactive Mesogens with Lateral Methyl and Methoxy Substituents and Vinyl Terminal Group

“…The reactive mesogens reported here with a functional vinyl terminal group can be further used as reactive mesogens, i.e., both the monomers and co-monomers, for the design of the smart self-assembling macromolecular materials, such as siloxane-based polymers, co-polymers and elastomers, exhibiting self-assembling behaviour favourable for various applications, including smart sensors [ 4 , 52 , 53 , 54 , 55 ] as well as tunable liquid crystal micro-lens array [ 56 ], dynamic focusing micro-lens array [ 57 ] and spatial modulators for working in THz aimed for photonics and telecommunications systems [ 58 ].…”

Greenly synthesized porous carbon nanoparticle (bio‐waste‐based)‐doped nematic liquid crystal composite with optimized electric and electro‐optical properties for devices

“…In the literature, there are adequate reports suggesting that doped NPs enhance the properties of host LCs 5–7 . Sincere endeavors have been recorded worldwide to reinforce the properties of LCs by dispersion of various metal NPs such as gold NPs (GNPs), 8–14 silver NPs (AgNPs), 15–19 dye, 20–22 TiO 2 NPs 23,24 quantum dots (QDs), 25,26 carbon nanotubes (CNTs), 27,28 polymers, 29,30 and nanorods 31–33 …”