Advancing Glucose Sensing Through Auto-Fluorescent Polymer Brushes: From Surface Design to Nano-Arrays

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Biomedical Engineering
• Analytical Chemistry

Background:

• Smart biointerfaces can sense and respond to environmental changes, enabling advanced sensing devices.
• Polymer brushes are versatile materials for creating adaptive interfaces due to their tunable properties and responsiveness to stimuli.

Purpose of the Study:

• To present a practical sensory interface for glucose detection using auto-fluorescent polymer brushes functionalized with phenylboronic acid (PBA) receptors.
• To demonstrate a glucose-responsive luminescent surface that translates binding events into fluorescent readouts without external dyes.

Main Methods:

• Grown auto-fluorescent polymer brushes on both patterned and non-patterned substrates.
• Utilized two-photon laser scanning confocal microscopy and atomic force microscopy (AFM) for analysis.
• Investigated the relationship between polymer brush conformation and glucose concentration.

Main Results:

• Demonstrated glucose-responsive luminescent surfaces capable of detecting glucose without fluorescent dyes.
• Confirmed reversible binding of glucose by PBA-functionalized brushes within physiologically relevant concentrations.
• Established a correlation between brush conformation changes and glucose concentration via microscopy techniques.

Conclusions:

• The combination of auto-fluorescent polymer brushes and synthetic receptors offers a promising strategy for developing innovative and robust sensing systems.
• This approach is suitable for various biomedical applications requiring sensitive and selective glucose detection.
• The developed interface provides a dye-free, luminescence-based readout for glucose sensing.