Refractive index matching in bio-medical research


Water has a very low refractive index that is not attainable by most organic fluids and polymers.
In certain microscopic observations, the non-matching of the refractive index of the aqueous medium and the embedding gels or the fixation adhesives creates reflections and optical artifacts.

MY Polymers introduces a series of optically clear low refractive index adhesives designed for encapsulation of tissues, cells and beads which are used in various fields in biological research.


The low refractive index adhesives are designed to match the refractive index of water and aqueous solution in the range of 1.33-1.34.


The leading material is MY-133 which was originally designed for optical adhesives. This is a UV cured adhesive with an RI of 1.335@589nm in the cured solid state. In addition, for application in which the UV radiation may affect cells or cause the fading out of certain fluorescent dyes, MY Polymers offers a range of moisture cured adhesives, most interesting of which is MY-133MC with a refractive index of 1.33.
Unlike the UV adhesives, these materials require longer time to cure (time for moisture to diffuse into the coated matrix) on the order of 1-24 hours.


Both UV cured and moisture cured products are 100% solids (namely, with no volatiles),
medium viscosity fluids with excellent optical clarity.
All the above adhesives are hydrophobic and inert towards the cells and beads.
They will not cause dehydration or swelling of the beads.


Please contact us for any special request and questions. Samples are available. However, due to the need for a special preparation and expenses, there is a fee to the samples. Please ask for a quotation.