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Janus hydrogel microparticles containing synthetic opal structures formed via deposition of polystyrene beads have significant potential for reagentless detection of environmental monitoring and sensing of biomacromolecular binding events. However, there exist significant issues for the reliable and robust fabrication of such microparticles. This thesis tests important parameters for the tunable ... read morefabrication and characterization of these microparticles via a two-step sequential micromolding technique. Parameters examined are ethanol concentration, surfactant addition and concentration, polystyrene bead diameter for the opal structure layer, and both polyacrylamide and poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate polymer systems for the hydrogel layer. I demonstrated that a poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate system results in the reliable fabrication of microparticles with uniform and intense color. I developed a modified Bragg’s equation that readily predicts structural color that agrees well with the experimental results. These studies show significant progress towards a greater understanding of opal structures formed via polystyrene bead deposition, and the robust and reliable fabrication of Janus hydrogel microparticles that have significant potential for biosensing applications in the future.read less
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