In this thesis biocompatible hydrogel coatings were investigated with surface plasmon resonance (SPR), specifically utilising the particular properties of evanescent fields: the exponential decay of the electric field with distance from the surface and the wavelength-dependence of the penetration depth. A SPR setup was developed which enables simultaneous real-time measurement of two SPR-signals with 600nm and 784nm. The setup allows a detailed investigation of thin three-dimensional layers on surfaces with a thickness in the range of the penetration depth of the evanescent fields. The real-time measurement capability allows to extract information about the dynamics of such systems. Hydrogels are organic layer systems, which swell to a multitude of their dry state thickness in aqueous solutions. Although these systems are already used for several applications, some important aspects of their behaviour are not resolved yet. For the class of thermo-responsive hydrogels the phase transition in immobilised state had not been evidenced up to now. In the field of biosensing, there was little information about the vertical dynamics of binding processes so far. SPR-measurements on novel thermo-responsive hydrogels evidenced for the first time a thermo-responsive effect of a surface-attached polymer. Upon heating, the previously solvated polymer chains collapsed onto the surface, analogous to the precipitation from aqueous solution. The collapse induces a shift in SPR-resonance angle in dependence of the temperature. The thermo-responsive effect was quantified by comparison with simulations. Dextran hydrogels were investigated with the two-wavelengths SPR measuring method. A three-zone model was developed, which can elegantly explain the monitored time behaviour of the two SPR signals. By means of the model the dynamics of binding processes can be deduced and preferred binding regions inside the hydrogel can be identified.
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In this thesis biocompatible hydrogel coatings were investigated with surface plasmon resonance (SPR), specifically utilising the particular properties of evanescent fields: the exponential decay of the electric field with distance from the surface and the wavelength-dependence of the penetration depth. A SPR setup was developed which enables simultaneous real-time measurement of two SPR-signals with 600nm and 784nm. The setup allows a detailed investigation of thin three-dimensional layers on s...
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