Engineering Nanomaterial Surfaces for Biomedical Applications

Abstract

Nanomaterials, possessing unique physical and chemical properties, have attracted much interest and generated wide varieties of applications. Recent investigations of functionalized nanomaterials have expanded into the biological area, providing a versatile platform in biomedical applications such as biomolecular sensing, biological imaging, drug delivery and disease therapy. Bio-functions and bio-compatibility of nanomaterials are realized by introducing synthetic ligands or natural biomolecules onto nanomaterials, and combining ligand-receptor biological interactions with intrinsic nanomaterial properties. Common strategies of engineering nanomaterial surfaces involve physisorption or chemisorption of desired ligands. We developed a photochemically initiated surface coupling chemistry, bringing versatility and simplicity to nanomaterial functionalization. The method was applied to attach underivatized carbohydrates efficiently on gold and iron oxide nanoparticles, and the resulting glyconanoparticles were successfully used as a sensitive biosensing system probing specific interactions between carbohydrates and proteins as well as bacteria.

Role of Acoustic Fields in Promoting the Gas-Solid Contact in a Fluidized Bed of Fine Particles

“…To date, great attention is focused on the development of highly specific adsorbent materials, namely materials with great affinity towards CO 2 molecules (Choi et al, 2009). Sure enough, the scientific community is moving in this direction, putting the emphasis on the manufacture of designed nanomaterials in which a molecular level of control can be achieved as a means of tailoring their CO 2 capture performance (Wang et al, 2009;Dawson et al, 2013;Baxter et al, 2009). However, although certain attributes of solid sorbents prove to be promising, they must still be integrated into a viable process (D'Alessandro et al, 2010) which includes the implementation of equipment that can take full advantage of the sorbent properties and maximize the separation efficiency (Sjostrom et al, 2011;Yang et al, 2009b).…”

Charge effect of superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles on their surface functionalization by photo-initiated chemical vapour deposition

“…Surface functionalization of nanomaterials includes simple or complex physical or chemical procedures that involve weak electrostatic repulsion, hydrogen bonding, hydrophobic interactions or covalent bonds, respectively (Wang et al 2009). One study showed that coating SPIONs with a gold layer enabled subsequent functionalization with thiolated DNA, which could then remain stable in aqueous solution (Robinson et al 2010).…”

Size and Shape Effect on Biomedical Applications of Nanomaterials

“…Intrinsic properties such as Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) of Ag, Au metallic nanoparticles (NPs) can be exploited for biosensing, drug delivery, bioimaging; fluorescence and luminescence of semiconductor CdS, CdSe NPs for immunoassays, bioimaging, biosensing; magnetism of magnetic Fe3O4 for MRI, drug delivery; electronic, mechanical and conductivity of carbon nanotubes (CNTs), and fullerene for drug, gene delivery, therapy and biosensing [9].…”