New Approaches to Chemical Sensing‐Sensors Based on Polymer Swelling

Abstract

Although there is an extensive literature on polymer swelling, only in recent years has work been performed to exploit this phenomenon for chemical sensing. The lifetime of most sensors based on polymer swelling is limited by delamination of the polymer film. Swelling and shrinking introduce a shear force at the sensor/polymer interface that eventually severs the covalent bonds holding the polymer layer onto the substrate. This is a problem for any sensor configuration that involves immobilization of a swellable layer on a rigid substrate. Recently, sensor platforms have been developed to address this problem. Furthermore, coupling polymer swelling to optical, magneto, and electrochemical transduction technologies has greatly increased the scope of applications for sensors based on swellable polymers.

Keywords:

• Chemical sensors
• polymer swelling
• optical monitoring

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by a grant from the Environmental Protection Agency, Science to Achieve Results (STAR) RD‐830911101‐0.