Gel sensors and method of use thereof
AssigneeKimberly-Clark Worldwide, Inc.
InventorsDennis S. Everhart, Rosann M. Kaylor, Mark L. Jones
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Abstract
The present invention comprises an optically diffracting sensing device whose diffraction pattern changes upon exposure to some stimuli. The diffraction pattern may be two or three dimensional, and in one embodiment the change in diffraction patterns is recognizable to the untrained eye. The device comprises one or more gels coated onto patterned, self-assembling monolayers of alkanethiolates, carboxylic acids, hydroxamic acids, and phosphonic acids printed onto a variety of substrates, including glass, silicon, aluminum oxide, and thermoplastic films metallized with gold, or with an alloy such as nickel/gold. The present invention also comprises the method of making this device, and the use of this device.
Claims36
A sensing device comprising:
- (a) a self-assembling monolayer stamped in a pattern on a substrate using a stamping means;
- (b) a responsive gel associated with the self-assembling monolayer, the gel capable of responding to a stimulus, wherein the gel is formed from polymers of acrylamides or copolymers containing acrylamides;
- and
- (c) an additional material on the substrate, the additional material being located on a non-stamped area of the substrate, the additional material being selected such that the responsive gel does not associate with the additional material;
- wherein the self-assembling monolayer is stamped in a pattern such that when the gel responds to the stimulus, the gel undergoes a physical change such that the sensing device produces a change in its diffraction of transmitted electromagnetic radiation, thereby indicating the presence of the stimulus, wherein the change in diffraction is visible to an unaided eye,
- further wherein the physical change occurs discontinuously at a specific stimulus level with a discontinuous change in gel volume.
A method of making a sensing device comprising stamping a pattern of self-assembling monolayers onto a substrate using a stamping means, applying an additional material to non-stamped areas of the substrate, and coating the pattern of self-assembling monolayers with one or more gels, wherein the gel is associated with the self-assembling monolayers and not associated with the additional material, the gel is formed from polymers of acrylamides or copolymers containing acrylamides, the gels being capable of responding to a stimulus, wherein the self-assembling monolayer is stamped in a pattern such that when the gel responds to the stimulus, the gel undergoes a physical change such that the sensing device produces a change in its diffraction of transmitted electromagnetic radiation, thereby indicating the presence of the stimulus, wherein the change in diffraction is visible to an unaided eye, further wherein the physical change occurs discontinuously at a specific stimulus level with a discontinuous change in gel volume.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.