Protein Removal from Hydrogels through Repetitive Surface Degradation.

Suppression of protein adsorption is a necessary property for materials used in the living body. In this study, thermoresponsive and degradable hydrogels were prepared by the radical polymerization of 2-methylene-1,3-dioxepane, 2-hydroxyethyl acrylate (HEA), and poly(ethylene glycol) monomethacrylate (PEGMA). The prepared hydrogels re-exposed PEG-grafted chains to the interface through surface degradation, which was confirmed by the maintenance of the chemical composition of the hydrogel surfaces after hydrolysis. Notably, adsorbed proteins can be removed from the hydrogel surfaces through hydrogel surface degradation at least thrice.

pH measurements in 16-nL-volume solutions using terahertz chemical microscopy.

Terahertz chemical microscopy has been developed for measuring the pH of a solution using only a small volume. The microsolution wells were fabricated on the surface of the sensing plate using a conventional photolithograph technique. Because the pH value can be calculated from the amplitude of a terahertz wave directly radiated from a sensing plate by a femtosecond laser irradiation, this method does not require any reference electrode in the solution. Thus, pH measurement can be achieved with a volume as small as 16 nL.