A review on ormosil-based biomaterials and their applications in sensor design

Abstract

The chemistry of sol-gel glasses is revised Sol-gel glasses derived from various sol-gel precursors are discussed. Alkoxide monomers containing various organic functional groups, e g. amino-, epoxy-, glycodoxy-, hydroxyl-, etc. leading to organically modified sol-gel glass (ormosil) are demonstrated. The development of composite sol-gel glasses derived from metal-centric complex is also reviewed. These ormosils behave as good biomaterial, which retain biological activity even after encapsulating the same during sol-gel processing. The  application of such materials in sensor design is reviewed. Various parameters such as water contact angle and wetted surface area of ormosil affecting the performance of ormosil-based sensors are also discussed. Special attention has been paid to encapsulation linkage of ferrocene derivatives within ormosil. The electrochemistry of ferrocene encapsulated within the palladium- ormosil material is reviewed.