Anion Insertion Engineering of Photonic Microstructure Enabling Ultrasensitive Glucose Visual Sensing.

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Biomedical Engineering
• Nanotechnology

Background:

• Polymer gels are used for glucose detection and drug delivery via borate-diol interactions.
• Current methods have limited sensitivity due to restricted polymer gel swelling.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a novel strategy to enhance the volumetric responsiveness of polymer nanogels.
• To improve glucose detection sensitivity and enable visual monitoring.

Main Methods:

• Covalently integrated synergistic molecules with diol and anionic functionalities into phenylboronic acid-based copolymers.
• Assembled nanogels into 1D photonic crystals (1D PCs).
• Utilized theoretical calculations and in situ dynamic analysis to verify mechanisms.

Main Results:

• Achieved a 2.88-fold enhancement in glucose-induced nanogel swelling.
• Demonstrated a 2.47-fold increase in 1D PC glucose responsiveness with vivid structural color shifts.
• Attained high sensitivity (15.4 nm mmol⁻¹ L⁻¹) and rapid response rate (1.55 nm s⁻¹).

Conclusions:

• The molecular engineering approach significantly enhances nanogel performance and photonic material responsiveness.
• This strategy offers a generalizable method for advancing colorimetric diagnostics and biomedical intelligence.
• The developed system enables intuitive visual glucose detection.