Employees of the Department of Polymer and Crystal Physics, together with German colleagues, have developed a method of monitoring the condition of microgels, which allows them to modify their size reversibly, according to the press service of Moscow State University.
Scientists have suggested influencing microgels with the help of light: under the influence of certain radiation, they can increase or decrease in volume several times. This will help create adaptive sensors or media for drug delivery to the body. The scientific work has been published in the journal Advanced Functional Materials (Q1).
It is clarified that microgels can be used as small containers for loading and unloading substances. They are made up of crosslinked polymer chains and have the ability to retain solvent, and the change in size leads to absorption or release of the contents.
The microgels are filled with a photosensitive surfactant in order to react to mild. When a certain radiation hits this substance, for example UV rays, the isomerization process begins, that is, a change in the spatial arrangement of the atoms of a molecule. This changes the nature of the interaction of molecules with each other and with the units of the microgel. Due to this, the microgel acquires new properties and can change in size, noted the head of the scientific group, professor of the Faculty of Physics Elena Kramarenko.
Earlier it was reported that the Russian team won 10 medals at the International Astronomical and Astrophysical Olympics. In a team of representatives from different regions, six – & mdash; Muscovites. They have five gold and one silver.
It has also become known that scientists from Moscow State University have identified a way to suppress the coronavirus using light. For this, biophysicists with colleagues from the Federal Research Center of the FTM and the Federal Research Center of the Federal Medical and Biological Agency of Russia conducted a number of experiments.