Journal article
Silk: A bio-derived coating for optical fiber sensing applications
A Khalid, L Peng, A Arman, SC Warren-Smith, EP Schartner, GM Sylvia, MR Hutchinson, H Ebendorff-Heidepriem, RA McLaughlin, BC Gibson, J Li
Sensors and Actuators B Chemical | ELSEVIER SCIENCE SA | Published : 2020
Abstract
Optical fiber chemical sensing is generally achieved through attachment of sensor molecules to the fiber, a process that involves chemicals that are not biologically compatible or are limited to thin monolayer coatings. To address these limitations and enable in-vivo biosensing, we report here, for the first time, silk fibroin coating of optical fibers for encapsulating fluorescent sensor molecules. Silica exposed core fiber (ECF) samples were coated with a thin layer of silk – a naturally derived biopolymer composed entirely of proteins and amino acids. The silk was doped with the fluorophore 5,6-carboxynapthofluorescein (CNF), which allows optical measurement of pH by a robust ratiometric ..
View full abstractGrants
Awarded by ARC Centre for Nanoscale BioPhotonics
Funding Acknowledgements
The authors acknowledge support from the ARC Centre of Excellence for Nanoscale Biophotonics (CE14010003) and a Premier's Research and Industry Fund grant provided by the South Australian Government Department for Industry and Skills. The authors like to acknowledge the RMIT Microscopic and Microanalysis Facility (RMMF) for SEM analysis and the RMIT node of the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Nanoscale BioPhotonics (CNBP) for in solution spectroscopy data. The authors also acknowledge Mr Ashleigh Hofferman and Dr Edwin Mayes for assisting with SEM microscopy data. A. Khalid is supported by RMIT University's vice chancellor postdoctoral fellowship. S. C. Warren-Smith is supported by a Ramsay Fellowship from the University of Adelaide. Lu Peng is supported by the China Scholarship Council. Jiawen Li is funded by grants from the National Heart Foundation of Australia (Postdoctoral Fellowship 102093) and the University of Adelaide. This work was performed, in part, at the Optofab node of the Australian National Fabrication Facility utilizing Commonwealth and SA State Government funding.