POS8-0717
iCVD polymer thin films on meso-macroporous hydrogels for enhanced extracellular vesicle isolation
Topic
S8. Frontiers of Functional Polymers in Biology and Medicine
When and Where
Oct 1, 2026
08:30 - 09:30
Room 301 (Grand Ballroom)
Session Chairs
Jinkee HONG
Ki Su KIM
Presenter(s)
Sangsoo Choi (Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST))
Co-Author(s)
Abstract
Extracellular vesicles (EVs) derived from neurons are emerging biomarkers for neurodegenerative diseases, yet their clinical utility is hindered by the lack of efficient isolation strategies. Conventional methods such as ultracentrifugation and size-exclusion chromatography are time-consuming, labor-intensive, and often require multiple complementary steps. Here, we present a sheet-type meso-macroporous hydrogel surface-engineered with initiated chemical vapor deposition (iCVD)-deposited polymer thin films for simple, equipment-free EV isolation. The porous hydrogel captures EVs by size through salt-mediated in-gel capture, washing, and off-gel recovery, while the conformal polymer coating adds a chemical layer of selectivity that suppresses nonspecific protein adsorption and enhances purity. The vapor-phase process forms thin, conformal films that preserve the porous architecture required for EV transport, and varying the polymer functionality, the interfacial properties can be tuned without altering the bulk structure. Preliminary results showed that poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) and poly(sulfobetaine methacrylate) coatings improved the yield and purity of plasma-derived EV isolation. This study demonstrates iCVD-deposited polymer thin films as a versatile surface modification approach for hydrogel-based EV isolation, providing a simple and scalable platform for the enriching neuron-derived EVs for neurodegenerative disease diagnostics.
