Swelling behaviour of functionalized hydrogels for application in chemical sensors

Abstract

Thin films of metabolite-specific biocompatible hydrogels were combined with microfabricated piezoresistive pressure transducers to obtain chemomechanical sensors that can serve as selective biochemical sensors for a continuous monitoring of metabolites. The gel swelling pressure has been monitored in simulated physiological solutions by means of the output signal of piezoresistive sensors. Gel response time and accuracy with which hydrogels can track gradual changes in glucose, fructose, pH and CO2, respectively, were estimated. A significant reduction of the sensor response time has been achieved due to hygroscopic fibres incorporated in the hydrogel layer.