Herein two novel synthetic strategies for the synthesis of sub-millimetre sized core–shell particles comprising a polyelectrolyte core and a porous hydrophobic shell are presented. In the first method, a water-in-oil-in-water (W/O/W) double-emulsion was used as a template for the simultaneous polymerisation of both the internal aqueous and the intermediate oil phases, via suspension polymerisation, leading to the formation of a cross-linked poly(acrylic acid-co-bisacrylamide) core contained in a porous poly(4-tert-butylstyrene-co-divinylbenzene) shell. It was found that the formation of core–shell morphology was favoured by the effect of acrylic acid which was responsible for the selective destabilization of the internal aqueous/oil (W/O) interface. It was found that rapid internal phase coarsening promoted the formation of single-core structures. A rapid gel-point of the oil phase, on the other hand, reduced the internal aqueous phase diffusion towards the external phase. The detrimental effect over internal emulsion stability was replicated using ethanol, 2-propanol, n-butanol and propionic acid which were used as a co-solvent in the internal aqueous phase to promote core/shell morphology formation. The second method involved the use of a flow-focusing device for the formation of monodisperse W/O/W emulsion droplets which were photo-polymerised. Anionic poly(sodium acrylate), poly(sodium vinyl sulfonate), and cationic poly(3-acrylamidopropyl)trimethylammonium chloride) hydrogels were encapsulated within a porous poly(trimethylolpropane triacrylate-co-methyl methacrylate) shell. Control over both particle diameter and shell thickness was achieved by tuning the flow rates of the different phases. The use of these novel hydrogel core/shell particles as novel material for environmental applications, including the scavenging of radionuclides, was investigated. It was found that hydrophilic substances including dyes and metal ions were rapidly adsorbed and encapsulated within the core region after diffusing through the permeable porous shell. Part of the results obtained in this work have been published in the article J. Mater. Chem. A, 2013, 1, 12553-12559.

京都大学 / 0048 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(工学) / 甲第22162号 / 工博第4666号 / 新制||工||1728(附属図書館) / 京都大学大学院工学研究科化学工学専攻 / (主査)教授 宮原 稔, 教授 山本 量一, 教授 松坂 修二 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Philosophy (Engineering) / Kyoto University / DGAM

Existing commercially available microcarriers are very efficient at encouraging cell attachment and proliferation. However, recovery of the cells is problematic as it requires the use of proteolytic enzymes which are damaging to critical cell adhesion proteins. From this perspective, temperature responsive polymers appear to be a valid option. The current innovative study is to produce and engineer microcarriers in terms of particle size, surface coating and properties, as well as thermo-responsiveness for cell release. All these benefits are based on particle production by membrane emulsification to provide a highly controlled particle size. The polymer of choice is poly N-isopropylacrylamide (pNIPAM) because of the sharpness of its phase transition, biocompatibility and transition temperature close to the physiological value. These characteristics make pNIPAM a very attractive material for Tissue Engineering applications. Cells are cultured on the hydrophobic surface at 37??C and can be readily detached without using proteolytic enzymes from the surface by lowering the temperature to room temperature. The Dispersion Cell (MicroPore Technologies Ltd, UK) was successfully employed for the production of W/O emulsions. The generated monomer droplets were additionally solidified by applying a free radical polymerisation to manufacture solid pNIPAM microspheres. Additionally, calcium alginate particles were also generated and further functionalised with amine terminated pNIPAM to form temperature responsive core-shell particles by simply taking advantage of the electrostatic interactions between the carboxyl groups of the alginate and amino groups of the modified pNIPAM. Controlled particle production was achieved by varying process parameters and changing the recipe formulation (e.g. monomer concentration, surfactant concentration, pore size and inter-pore spacing, injection rate, shear stress applied at the membrane s surface). The manufactured particles were then analysed in terms of particle size and size distribution, chemical composition, surface analysis, shrinkage ratio and thermo-responsiveness and further sterilised and used for cell culture and release experiments. Swiss Albino 3T3 fibroblastic cells (ATCC, USA) were utilised to show proof-of-concept for this technology. Cell attachment and proliferation were assessed and successfully demonstrated qualitatively and quantitatively. pNIPAM solid particles, uncoated and with different protein coatings were shown to allow a limited degree of cell attachment and proliferation compared to a commercially available microcarrier. On a different approach, uncoated core-shell structures demonstrated improved capabilities for cell attachment and proliferation, similar to commercially available microcarriers. Having in mind the potential of temperature responsive polymers and the aim of this innovative study, cell detachment from the generated microcarriers was evaluated and compared to a commercially available temperature responsive surface. Necessary time for detachment was recorded and detached cells were recovered and reseeded onto tissue culture plastic surfaces in order to evaluate the replating and reattachment capabilities of the recovered cells. Successful cell detachment was achieved when using the core-shell structures as cell microcarriers, but the necessary time of detachment was of an order higher than that for the commercial temperature responsive surface.

Literární rešerše předložené dizertační práce shrnuje poznatky jak o současně používaných biomateriálech, tak i o tzv. „chytrých“ biomedicínských materiálech mezi které patří termocitlivé kopolymery. Mezi tyto kopolymery, jejichž vodné roztoky gelují při teplotě lidského těla (37 °C), řadíme amfifilní triblokové kopolymery skládající se z hydrofobního laktidu, glykolidu a hydrofilního polyethylen glykolu (PLGA PEG PLGA). Komerčně dostupné termocitlivé kopolymery známé pod názvem ReGel or OncoGel jsou v současné době využívány jako injekčně aplikovatelné nosiče s postupným uvolňováním léčiv, zejména při léčbě cukrovky nebo onkologického onemocnění. Nicméně PLGA PEG PLGA triblokový kopolymer může být použit I jako polymerní nosič anorganického léčiva případně jako biodegradabilní implantát v dentálních či ortopedickýchých aplikacích. Z toho důvodu byl vybrán anorganický biokompatibilní hydroxyapatit (HAp) pro své majoritní zastoupení v tvrdých tkáních. Experimentální část je zaměřena na přípravu HAp/PLGA PEG PLGA kompozitů, ve kterých je HAp buď ve formě nano- (n-HAp) nebo „core-shell“ částic (CS). Nové CS částice, připravené dvouemulzní metodou, jsou složeny z „tuhého“ HAp jádra obaleného termocitlivým kopolymerem, který je navíc funkcionalizován kyselinou itakonovou (ITA/PLGA PEG PLGA/ITA). Funkcionalizace pomocí ITA vnáší do původní struktury kopolymeru jak síťovatelné dvojné vazby, tak i koncové karboxylové skupiny. Volné karboxylové skupiny na koncích ITA/PLGA PEG PLGA/ITA kopolymerního obalu byly dále zesíťovány za vzniku 3D chemické sítě (CS-x), jejíž životnost je řízena a kontrolována. ATR-FTIR spektroskopie prokázala přítomnost „nových“ esterových vazeb vzniklých karbodiimidovou reakcí –OH a –COOH skupin, kterým náleží adsorpční pásy ve vlnové délce 1021 cm-1.. n-HAp a CS-x částice byly přidány do kopolymerní termocitlivé matrice (PLGA PEG PLGA) za účelem charakterizace jejich reologického chování. Bylo zjištěno, že pokud bylo do polymerní matrice přidáno méně než 10 hm. % CS-x částic a jen 5 hm.% n-HAp kompozit si zachoval své termocitlivé vlastnosti. Na druhou stranu, přídavek vyššího množství HAp částic do polymerní matrice zajistil změnu vodného polymerního solu v permanentní gel při teplotě nad 37 °C. Analýza ICP-OES prokázala rychlejší uvolňování CS-x částic z 10 hm/obj. % PLGA PEG PLGA polymerní matrice do inkubačního média (6 % 9. den) než tomu bylo u n-HAp částic (jen 3 %), které jsou vázány více v micelární struktuře kopolymeru. Proto, kompozit na bázi n-HAP částic tvořící tuhý trvalý gel při tělesné teplotě, je vhodný více jako biologicky rozložitelné kostní lepidlo, zatímco kompozit z CS-x částic a termocitlivého kopolymeru je vhodný jako nosič léčiv pro injekční aplikace.

Durch die Funktionalisierung von Silica- und Gold-Nanopartikeln mit einem neu entwickelten photoschaltbaren Polymer wurden gezielt selbst¬organisierte Architekturen aus Polymer-Nanokompositen aufgebaut. Silica-Oberflächen wurden mit Transferagenzien für eine oberflächeninitiierte reversible Additions–Fragmentierungs-Ketten-transferpolymerisation (engl. reversible addition–fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT-) Polymerisation) modifiziert und systematisch untersucht. Dazu wurden Mono-, Di- und Trialkoxysilylether als Ankergruppen in die chemische Struktur der RAFT-Agenzien integriert. Die Analyse von funktionalisierten planaren Substraten durch Rasterkraftmikroskopie hat gezeigt, dass di- und trifunktionelle Ankergruppen als vernetzte Aggregate auf der Oberfläche gebunden werden, wenn die Immobilisierung in Toluol durchgeführt wird. Als Ursache dafür wurde durch dynamische Lichtstreuung (DLS) eine, im Vergleich zur Reaktion mit der Oberfläche, beschleunigte Aggregation der Ankergruppen identifiziert. Die Vernetzung konnte durch die Verwendung von 1,2-Dimethoxyethan als Lösungsmittel unterbunden werden, wodurch besser definierte Oberflächenstrukturen erhalten wurden. Diese wurden ebenfalls durch Monoalkoxysilylether erreicht, die unabhängig vom Lösungsmittel keine Möglichkeit zur Vernetzung bieten. Die Charakterisierung funktionalisierter sphärischer Silica-Nanopartikel mittels Transmissionselektronen¬mikroskopie (TEM) bestätigten diese Ergebnisse. Dadurch wurde gezeigt, dass vernetzte Ankergruppen zu der Aggregation von Silica-Nanopartikeln führen. An den funktionalisierten Partikeln wurden RAFT-Polymerisationen durchgeführt, deren Produkte durch Gel-permeations¬chromatographie und Thermogravimetrie analysiert wurden. Dabei wurde gezeigt, dass die Beladungsdichte des Polymers nicht ausschließlich mit der Konzentration der RAFT-Agenzien auf der Oberfläche steigt, sondern vor allem mit deren Erreichbarkeit für Makroradikale. Zudem wurde festgestellt, dass der Anteil niedermolekularer Nebenprodukte unabhängig vom Aggregationgrad der verwendeten Ankergruppen ist. Nach diesen Prinzipien maßgeschneiderte Silica- und Gold-Nanopartikel wurden in einer Blockcopolymermatrix dispergiert und mittels TEM analysiert. Durch Mikrophasenseparation der Matrix konnten erstmals RAFT-Polymer-funktionalisierte Nanopartikel gezielt und selektiv in eine Phase integriert werden. Zusätzlich wurde beobachtet, dass selektiv Silica-Partikel mit kleinen Durchmessern aus der eingesetzten Größenverteilung eingebaut wurden. Neben dem Design von Nanopartikeln wurde ein photoschaltbares Polymer (PAzoPMA) für die Anwendung in Polymer-Nanokompositen entwickelt. Durch die reversible Licht-induzierte transcis-Isomer¬isierung der schaltbaren Azobenzol-Einheiten des Polymers, nimmt sowohl die molekulare Größe ab als auch das Dipolmoment deutlich zu. Diese Änderungen konnten durch Wasser-Kontaktwinkel-Analysen, DLS und Ionenmobilitäts-Massenspektrometrie charakterisiert werden. Durch die Funktionalisierung von Silica- bzw. Gold-Partikeln mit diesem Polymer wurden photoschaltbare Nanokomposite synthetisiert, indem PAzoPMA über RAFT-Agenzien an die Oberfläche gebunden wurde. Die Bestrahlung einer Dispersion dieser Hybridpartikel mit ultraviolettem Licht induzierte die transcis-Isomerisierung, die eine Selbstorganisation der Primärpartikel zur Folge hatte. Insbesondere funktionalisierte Gold-Nanopartikel aggregierten zu definierten, sphärischen Überstrukturen, was durch DLS und optische Absorptions-spektroskopie belegt wurde. Durch letztere konnte außerdem gezeigt werden, dass der geschaltete Zustand länger stabil ist als bei bisher literaturbekannten Systemen mit Kleinmolekülen als Photoschalter. Eine weitere Stärke des entwickelten Systems wird mittels TEM-Analyse verdeutlicht. Die über die molare Masse des PAzoPMAs in der Partikelhülle einstellbaren Abstände der Primärpartikel, innerhalb dieser Überstrukturen, verdeutlichen das große Potential des Systems.

Chapter one reviewed the development of sol-gel stationary phase for gas chromatograph (GC). Inorganic sol-gel precursor creates the substrate support for stationary phase bind to silica surface through the condensation of silanol groups, the rough surface with enhanced surface area enlarger the capacity of the sol-gel stationary phase, the porosity of sol-gel structure decreases the mass transferring coefficient, the term C in Van Deemter equation, which makes sol-gel stationary phase thicker coating up to 1 um but keeps the high resolution for gas chromatography. Chemical bound stationary phase significantly improve GC column with better thermal stability and solvent stability. Partial derivatizations of known polymers have not increased the column performance but remained at the same level of 3200 plates per meter. The sol-gel chemistry with essential structure rebuilding will make sol-gel stationary phase to a new level. The chapter two reported the non-silica-based metal alkoxide oxide as the new building block, cooperated with known polymer poly(dimethyldiphenylsilanoxan), developed the original nonpolar feature of the stationary phase to broad the polarity from the nonpolar to extreme polar, overcome the thermal stability for other types of polar column. The theoretical plate number reached the 3200 plates per meter, and the optimized plate number arrived at the top level at 3800 plates per meter. The basic recipe and preparation of sol-gel process were verified by tungsten alkoxide incorporated with poly(dimethyldiphenylsilanoxan) as the stationary phase which arrived the same plate number level at 3800 per meter. Chapter three demonstrated the preparation of core-shell particle for HPLC. Conventional silica core particles were prepared with stÖbe methods. The extended layer of germanium oxide coating was made with acid and alkaline as a catalyst. EDS characterize the extended layers of germanium oxide has been coated at ratio 12/1(Ge/Si). Then the carbon loading with C 18 for surface derivatization were also confirmed with EDS testing. 2 um core-shell particles were successfully prepared from the external composition (1.7 um core, 0.3 um shell). The function of the core-shell particles was slurry packed with 5cm regular steel column and the capillary column with sol-gel frit. The preliminary HPLC testing showed the core-shell particles had more retention ability compare with 4 um commercial core particles. The backpressure of the short steel column and capillary both were beyond the pressure limit of conventional HPLC pump. Chapter three demonstrates the new ideal of the surface sol-gel process for GC stationary phase. Without the catalyst, the sol solution has constant viscosity and gelation time is much longer, the sol-gel reaction was taking on the silica surface only, to accomplish the thinner coating for sol-gel stationary phase. From the retention time of the grob mixture, the surface sol-gel coated 2 meters of column acquired the half retention time, grob mixture analytes were eluted within 7 minutes, compared with conventional sol-gel coated column eluted within 14 minutes. Without the TFA as the catalyst, the sol-gel matrix may not form effective surface area and porosity to support the functional polymer for separation, the column performances were two third of the protocol column, at 1500-2500 plate number per meter. The coating results proved the sol-gel stationary phase could be fulfilled with diluted sol solution by static coating. Basic parameters for dynamic coating and static coating with conventional coating and surface sol-gel were acquired for further development. The germania and niobium precursor is highly active, the water amount in the solvents used as received without drying process can meet the surface sol-gel coating without precipitates and gelation formed before finishing coat. For germania -PDMDPS column, thermal stability is very important because of the temperature for remaining the low residual OH- group in silica and germania film at 350 °C.

The main goal of this work is design and synthesis of novel composite hydrogel-based core-shell microparticles and their application for fabrication of coatings, which provide the “inverse-switching” behaviour to the surface, namely, to become more hydrophobic in water environment. Since contact angle of heterogeneous surfaces is dependent on the nature and ratio of surface components, an increase of amount of more hydrophobic component on the surface will cause the reducing of surface wettability. It was suggested that core-shell particles having water-swellable hydrogel core and hydrophobic, but permeable for water shell when deposited on the hydrophilic substrate should increase the total amount of hydrophobic component on the surface when the cores of particles will swell in water. During the work different approaches to obtain freely dispersed and surface-immobilized core-shell particles with required structure were developed. Obtained particles were applied for preparation of coatings with ability to display “inverse-switching” behaviour. It was demonstrated that properly designed and properly prepared core-shell particles could be successfully used for creation of smart adaptive coatings having the ability to alter the surface properties upon changing of the environment.

Polyketides are natural products with complex chemical structures and immense pharmaceutical potential that are synthesized via secondary metabolic pathways. The in-vitro synthesis of these molecules requires high supply of building blocks such as acetyl Co-enzyme A, and cofactors (adenosine triphosphate (ATP). These precursor and cofactor are synthesized from respective soluble enzymes. Owing to the expensive nature of the enzymes, it is important to immobilize enzymes to improve the process economics by enabling multiple uses of catalyst and improving overall productivity and robustness. The polymer-based particles of nano and submicron size have become attractive material for their role in the life sciences. With the advances in synthetic protocols of the microgels and commercial availability of many of the monomers, it is feasible to tune the properties of the particles as per the process requirement. The core shell microgel with functional shell allows high loading of ligands onto the microgel particles due to increased availability of functional group on the outer surface. The aim of the thesis thus was to study biochemical reactions on the smart microgels support using single (acetyl CoA synthetase (Acs)) and dual (pyruvate kinase (Pk) and L-lactic dehydrogenase (Ldh)) enzyme/s systems. The study indicated that the enzyme immobilization significantly depends on the enzyme, conjugation strategy and the support. The covalent immobilization provides rigidity to the enzyme structure as in case of Acs immobilized on PNIPAm-AEMA microgels but at the same time leads to loss in enzyme activity. Whereas, in the case of covalent immobilization of Ldh on microgel showed improved in enzyme activity. On the other hand adsorption of the enzyme via ionic interaction provide better kinetic profile of enzymes hence the membrane reactor was prepared using PNIPAm-PEI conjugates for acetyl CoA synthesis. The better outcome of work with PNIPAm-PEI resulted in its further evaluation for dual enzyme system. This work is unique in the view that the immobilization strategies were well adapted to immobilize single and dual enzymes to achieve stable bioconjugates for their respective applications in precursor biosynthesis (Acetyl Co enzyme A) and co-factor dependent processes (ACoA and ATP). The positive end results of microgels as the support (particles in solution and as the thin film (membrane)) opens further prospective to explore these systems for other precursor biomolecule production.

The main goal of this work is design and synthesis of novel composite hydrogel-based core-shell microparticles and their application for fabrication of coatings, which provide the “inverse-switching” behaviour to the surface, namely, to become more hydrophobic in water environment. Since contact angle of heterogeneous surfaces is dependent on the nature and ratio of surface components, an increase of amount of more hydrophobic component on the surface will cause the reducing of surface wettability. It was suggested that core-shell particles having water-swellable hydrogel core and hydrophobic, but permeable for water shell when deposited on the hydrophilic substrate should increase the total amount of hydrophobic component on the surface when the cores of particles will swell in water. During the work different approaches to obtain freely dispersed and surface-immobilized core-shell particles with required structure were developed. Obtained particles were applied for preparation of coatings with ability to display “inverse-switching” behaviour. It was demonstrated that properly designed and properly prepared core-shell particles could be successfully used for creation of smart adaptive coatings having the ability to alter the surface properties upon changing of the environment.

Ein aktueller Forschungsschwerpunkt in der analytischen Chemie ist die Entwicklung (bio)chemischer Sensoren mit hoher Selektivität, Empfindlichkeit und schnellem Ansprechverhalten für den Nachweis und das Monitoring von besorgniserregenden Analyten in Realproben. Fluoreszierende molekular geprägte Sensormaterialien bieten einen innovativen Ansatz, indem sie die spezifischen Erkennungsfähigkeiten molekular geprägter Polymere (MIPs) mit der hohen Empfindlichkeit der Fluoreszenzdetektion kombinieren. Ziel dieser Arbeit war es, MIPs mit optischen Sensoreigenschaften zu entwickeln, um Umweltschadstoffe schnell und spezifisch nachzuweisen. Zur Konstruktion von MIPs mit außergewöhnlichen optischen Eigenschaften wurden fluoreszierende Sonden-Monomere auf Basis des Bor-Dipyrromethen (BODIPY)-Fluorophors entwickelt, synthetisiert und charakterisiert. Verschiedene Akzeptor-Einheiten wurden in das BODIPY-Gerüsts eingeführt, um das Ansprechverhalten auf Zielanalyten mit Carboxylatfunktionen (z.B. Arzneimittelwirkstoffe, Pestizide, oberflächenaktive Substanzen) zu untersuchen. Diese fluoreszierenden Sonden-Moleküle wurden mit polymerisierbaren Einheiten ausgestattet, um ihre kovalente Einbindung in ein quervernetztes MIP-Netzwerk zu ermöglichen, das als Erkennungselement und Signalübermittler dient. Die Molekülstrukturen wurden durch Röntgenkristallanalyse bestätigt. Mit Hilfe spektroskopischer Methoden wurden die photophysikalischen Eigenschaften der Sonden-Monomere und ihre Bindungsaffinität für die Zielmoleküle untersucht, wobei die Sonden-Monomere eine starke Fluoreszenz im sichtbaren bis nahen Infrarotbereich aufwiesen und bemerkenswerte spektrale Veränderungen bei der Bindung mit den Zielanalyten zeigten. Der Einbau der Sonden in MIP-Schalen auf Siliziumdioxid-Kernpartikeln ermöglichte den selektiven Nachweis eines bestimmten Antibiotikums gegenüber anderen Antibiotika mit ähnlichen funktionellen Gruppen. Weiterhin wurden rot-emittierende BODIPY-Farbstoffe zur Dotierung von Polymerkernen eingesetzt, um ein Sensorsystem mit dualer Emission (d. h., mit Farbstoff dotierter Polymerkern/SiO2-Schale/fluoreszierendes Sonden-Monomer enthaltende MIP-Schale). Diese sensorischen MIPs zeigten eine ratiometrische Fluoreszenzantwort auf ein Antihistaminikum, wobei das eingebaute Referenzsignal im Kern eine Selbstkalibrierung in den Assays ermöglichte. Ein weiteres dual fluoreszierendes MIP-Sensormaterial (d. h. farbstoffdotierter Siliziumdioxidkern/fluoreszierendes Sonden-Monomer enthaltende MIP-Schale) wurde für die direkte Messung von Perfluorcarbonsäuren entwickelt. Die Integration der sensorischen MIPs in einen mikrofluidischen Aufbau führte zu einer mobilen und vielseitigen Sensorplattform, die einfach zu bedienen ist. / One of the current focal points of research in the field of analytical chemistry is the development of (bio)chemical sensors with high selectivity, sensitivity, and rapid response for the detection and monitoring of analytes of high concern in complicated samples. Fluorescent molecularly imprinted sensor materials represent a cutting-edge approach to developing sensors that combine the specific recognition capabilities of molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) with the high sensitivity of fluorescence detection. The objective of this thesis was to design, synthesize, and evaluate MIPs with optical sensing properties, focusing mainly on fluorescence, with the aim of rapidly and specifically detecting emerging environmental contaminants. To construct MIPs with exceptional optical characteristics and a well-defined binding mechanism for the recognition of target molecules, a series of tailor-made fluorescent probe monomers based on the boron-dipyrromethene (BODIPY) fluorophore have been designed, synthesized and characterized. Identical acceptor modules were introduced at various positions, or different acceptor modules were introduced at the same position of the BODIPY scaffold, to preliminarily investigate the response behavior of different types of probe monomers for target analytes containing carboxylate functions, ranging from pharmaceuticals to pesticides and surfactants. Additionally, one or two polymerizable units were attached to these fluorescent probe molecules to enable their covalent incorporation into a crosslinked MIP network, serving as recognition element and signal transducers. The molecular structures of these probe monomers were confirmed via X-ray crystal analysis. Spectroscopic approaches were employed to assess the photophysical characteristics of the probe monomers and their binding affinities for the target molecules. These probe monomers exhibited strong fluorescence in the visible-to-near infrared wavelength region, along with remarkable spectral changes upon binding with the target analytes. Incorporation of the fluorescent probes into MIP shells on silica cores achieved selective detection of a targeted antibiotic from other antibiotics with similar carboxylate, amine and aromatic functional groups. In addition, the synthesis of red-emitting BODIPY dyes for doping into polymer cores facilitated the fabrication of a dual-emission sensing system (i.e., dye-doped polymer core/silica shell/MIP shell). The sensory MIPs exhibited a ratiometric fluorescence response to an antihistaminic drug and the presence of a built-in reference signal in the core provided self-calibration for MIP assays. Furthermore, another dual-fluorescent MIP sensor material was engineered (i.e., dye-doped silica core/MIP shell) for the direct monitoring of perfluorocarboxylic acids. The integration of the sensory MIPs into a dedicated microfluidic setup resulted in a portable and easy-to-operate versatile sensing platform.