Analyte-responsive holograms for (bio)chemical analysis

Abstract

Analyte-responsive holograms comprise a holographic grating embedded in a smart hydrogel film. The grating acts as a reporter that enables analyte induced changes in the thickness of the associated polymer film to be accurately determined. Interaction of these materials with a specific analyte or stimuli leads to a change in the colour, image or brightness of the hologram and these changes can be visualised directly or quantified using a simple colour reader. Analyte-responsive holograms are inexpensive, robust and have proven suitable for detection of a wide range of clinically and industrially important analytes.