MAPLE activities and applications in gas sensors

Abstract

During the last decade, many groups have grown thin films of various organic materials by the cryogenic Matrix Assisted Pulsed Laser Evaporation (MAPLE) technique with a wide range of applications. This contribution is focused on the summary of our results with deposition and characterization of thin films of fibrinogen, pullulan derivates, azo-polyurethane, cryoglobulin, polyvinyl alcohol, and bovine serum albumin dissolved in physiological serum, dimethyl sulfoxide, sanguine plasma, phosphate buffer solution, H2O, ethylene glycol, and tert-butanol. MAPLE films were characterized using FTIR, AFM, Raman scattering, and SEM. For deposition, a special hardware was developed including a unique liquid nitrogen cooled target holder. Overview of MAPLE thin film applications is given. We studied SnAcAc, InAcAc, SnO2, porphyrins, and polypyrrole MAPLE fabricated films as small resistive gas sensors. Sensors were tested with ozone, nitrogen dioxide, hydrogen, and water vapor gases. In the last years, our focus was on the study of fibrinogen-based scaffolds for application in tissue engineering, wound healing, and also as a part of layers for medical devices.