Electrical Conductivity Response of Poly(Phenylene-vinylene)/Zeolite Composites Exposed to Ammonium Nitrate

Poly(p-phenylenevinylene) (PPV) was chemically synthesized via the polymerization of p-xylene-bis(tetrahydrothiophenium chloride) monomer and doped with H2SO4. To improve the electrical conductivity sensitivity of the conductive polymer, Zeolites Y (Si/Al = 5.1, 30, 60, 80) were added into the conductive polymer matrix. All composite samples show definite positive responses towards NH4NO3. The electrical conductivity sensitivities of the composite sensors increase linearly with increasing Si/Al ratio: with values of 0.201, 1.37, 2.80 and 3.18, respectively. The interactions between NH4NO3 molecules and the PPV/zeolite composites with respect to the electrical conductivity sensitivity were investigated through the infrared spectroscopy

Fabrication of Poly(p-Phenylene)/Zeolite Composites and Their Responses Towards Ammonia

Poly(p-phenylene) (PPP) was chemically synthesized via oxidative polymerization using benzene and doped with FeCl3. The electrical conductivity response of the doped PPP (dPPP) towards CO, H2 and NH3 is investigated. dPPP shows no electrical conductivity response towards the first two gases (CO and H2), but it shows a definite negative response towards NH3. The electrical conductivity sensitivity of dPPP increases linearly with increasing NH3 concentration. To improve the sensitivity of the sensor towards NH3, ZSM-5 zeolite is added into the conductive polymer matrix. The electrical sensitivity of the sensor increases with increasing zeolite content up to 30%. The effect of the type of cation in the zeolite pores is investigated: namely, Na+, K+, NH4+ and H+. The electrical conductivity sensitivity of the composites with different cations in the zeolite can be arranged in this order: K+ < no zeolite < Na+ < NH4+ < H+. The variation in electrical sensitivity with cation type can be described in terms of the acid-base interaction, the zeolite pore size and surface area. The PPP/Zeolite composite with H+ possesses the highest electrical sensitivity of −0.36 since H+ has the highest acidity, the highest pore volume and surface area, which combine to induce a more favorable NH3 adsorption and interaction with the conductive polymer

Polymer-based microparticles in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine

Different types of biomaterials, processed into different shapes, have been proposed as temporary support for cells in tissue engineering (TE) strategies. The manufacturing methods used in the production of particles in drug delivery strategies have been adapted for the development of microparticles in the fields of TE and regenerative medicine (RM). Microparticles have been applied as building blocks and matrices for the delivery of soluble factors, aiming for the construction of TE scaffolds, either by fusion giving rise to porous scaffolds or as injectable systems for in situ scaffold formation, avoiding complicated surgery procedures. More recently, organ printing strategies have been developed by the fusion of hydrogel particles with encapsulated cells, aiming the production of organs in in vitro conditions. Mesoscale self-assembly of hydrogel microblocks and the use of leachable particles in three-dimensional (3D) layer-by-layer (LbL) techniques have been suggested as well in recent works. Along with innovative applications, new perspectives are open for the use of these versatile structures, and different directions can still be followed to use all the potential that such systems can bring. This review focuses on polymeric microparticle processing techniques and overviews several examples and general concepts related to the use of these systems in TE and RE applications. The use of materials in the development of microparticles from research to clinical applications is also discussed

Aptamer-Functionalized Hydrogels for Controlling Protein Release

Protein drugs hold great potential for treating a wide variety of human diseases. However, the efficient and safe delivery of protein drugs in vivo is still a long-standing challenge. Great effort has been made to develop polymeric systems to control the release of protein drugs with desired kinetics. However, current protein delivery systems suffer from problems including the rapid release of protein drugs, the inefficiency of controlling the release of multiple proteins with different release kinetics, and the involvement of toxic molecules and/or harsh conditions during the preparation of protein delivery systems. This Ph.D. project is aimed to create an aptamer-based hydrogel system that is promising to address these problems. The novel hypotheses of this research are: (1) aptamers can bind to and entrap proteins in the hydrogel due to their high affinity and specificity; and (2) the release rate of proteins can be controlled by tuning the binding functionality of aptamers either intramolecularly or intermolecularly. To test these hypotheses and to achieve the goal, two specific tasks have been performed. The first one is to fundamentally understand aptamer-protein interactions at the molecular level. The second one is to thoroughly investigate the effectiveness of using aptamers and molecular triggers to control the release rates of loaded proteins. The results clearly showed that aptamers could be used as novel affinity ligands to functionalize hydrogels for controlling protein release with desired kinetics.

Programmable Release of Multiple Protein Drugs from Aptamer-Functionalized Hydrogels via Nucleic Acid Hybridization

Polymeric delivery systems have been extensively studied to achieve localized and controlled release of protein drugs. However, it is still challenging to control the release of multiple protein drugs in distinct stages according to the progress of disease or treatment. This study successfully demonstrates that multiple protein drugs can be released from aptamer-functionalized hydrogels with adjustable release rates at predetermined time points using complementary sequences (CSs) as biomolecular triggers. Because both aptamer–protein interactions and aptamer–CS hybridization are sequence-specific, aptamer-functionalized hydrogels constitute a promising polymeric delivery system for the programmable release of multiple protein drugs to treat complex human diseases

Oligonucleotide Hybridization Combined with Competitive Antibody Binding for the Truncation of a High-Affinity Aptamer

Truncation can enhance the affinity of aptamers for their targets by limiting nonessential segments and therefore limiting the molecular degrees of freedom that must be overcome in the binding process. This study demonstrated a truncation protocol relying on competitive antibody binding and the hybridization of complementary oligonucleotides, using platelet derived growth factor BB (PDGF-BB) as the model target. On the basis of the immunoassay results, an initial long aptamer was truncated to a number of sequences with lengths of 36–40 nucleotides (nt). These sequences showed apparent <i>K</i>_D values in the picomolar range, with the best case being a 36-nt truncated aptamer with a 150-fold increase in affinity over the full-length aptamer. The observed binding energies correlated well with relative energies calculated by molecular dynamics simulations. The effect of the truncated aptamer on PDGF-BB-stimulated fibroblasts was found to be equivalent to that of the full-length aptamer