Novel Hybrid Polymeric and Inorganic Structures for Applications in Nanobiotechnology
This cumulative doctoral dissertation deals with the use of diverse polymers in different applications within nanoscience. The synthesis and characterization of several nano and microstructures is also explained, focusing on the later surface modification via the use of different polymers. Polyme...
Saved in:
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Contributors: | |
| Format: | Doctoral Thesis |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Philipps-Universität Marburg
2017
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | PDF Full Text |
| Tags: |
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| Summary: | This cumulative doctoral dissertation deals with the use of diverse polymers in
different applications within nanoscience. The synthesis and characterization of
several nano and microstructures is also explained, focusing on the later surface
modification via the use of different polymers. Polymers are chemical compounds
formed by the combination of several repeating structural units (monomers) in a
process called polymerization. These structures are assembled following a specific
pattern and their subsequent properties are given by the monomers added in the
polymerization process. Several uses of polymers have been reported, being their use
in the process of engineering novel composite materials for applications within fields
like aerospace industry, biotechnology or medicine.
The work shown in this thesis aimed to implement novel applications for some of the
general polymer uses found in literature and the employment of amphiphilic
zwitterionic polymers to test their stability for different biological applications. The
dissertation is first focused on the study of three different applications of polymers
inside nanotechnology. One of the most common applications of the use of
amphiphilic polymers is the coating of inorganic NPs initially synthesized in organic
solutions, transferring them into aqueous solutions. The resulting polymer coated NPs
count on functional groups on their surface allowing further modifications for new
functionalities. This procedure is applied to NPs with different size (ranging from 4 to
29 nm core size) and material (gold and iron oxide).
A second application of the polymers is the protection of highly unstable, water and
oxygen-sensitive clusters from degradation in aqueous environments. For that purpose
gold NPs (Au NPs) of 4 nm were used as template and the clusters were collected
between the surface of the NP and the amphiphilic polymer shell. The kinetic activity
of the clusters was studied in aqueous environment, obtaining signal in at least the
first 24 hours after the coating.
As a complementary study inside this dissertation, different amphiphilic zwitterionic
polymers were synthesized and optimized for a correct stabilization of NPs in water.
The influence of parameters like pH, protein concentration and ionic strength was
studied to obtain a complete description of the stability of the different zwitterionic
polymer-coated NPs, comparing them to the single charge polymer coated NPs (e.g.
fully positive or fully negative).
A third application involves the self-assembly of alternating-charge polyelectrolyte
layers deposited via adsorption on sacrificial calcium carbonate cores, yielding
polymeric hollow microstructures able to be provided with physical and biological
properties. Both properties are obtained via the accumulation of iron oxide
nanoparticles between the polymer layers and the attachment of specific antibodies vion
the outermost polymer layer, giving physical (magnetic) and biological (specific
recognition) properties to the whole structure. These microcapsules were utilized to
obtain a magnetic immunosensor able to specifically recognize and extract horseradish
peroxidase (used as protein model) from a solution. |
|---|---|
| Physical Description: | 282 Pages |
| DOI: | 10.17192/z2017.0227 |