Transparent microparticles in water/sucrose solution

Abstract

Facile, one-step dispersion polymerization of heptafluoro-n-butyl methacrylate is shown to provide microparticles that can be made transparent in the bio-friendly medium of water/sucrose with a refractive index of 1.3770. Fluorescently labeled particles can be imaged 80 μm deep into the dispersion with 1 vol% concentration, using confocal fluorescence microscopy. Such particles can provide insights into (bio-)physical processes in aqueous environments.