Surface-chemical and -morphological gradients

Morgenthaler, Sara; Zink, Christian; Spencer, Nicholas D.

doi:10.1039/b715466f

Cited by 226 publications

(215 citation statements)

References 125 publications

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“…One methodology used for the parallel investigation of multiple polymer samples is spatial gradients [21][22][23][24][25]. Gradient investigations employ the variation of the relative composition of two material properties by producing a sample that varies gradually, e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

High throughput methods applied in biomaterial development and discovery

et al. 2010

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The high throughput discovery of new materials can be achieved by rapidly screening many different materials synthesised by a combinatorial approach to identify the optimal material that fulfils a particular biomedical application. Here we review the literature in this area and conclude that for polymers, this process is best achieved in a microarray format, which enable thousands of cell-material interactions to be monitored on a single chip. Polymer microarrays can be formed by printing pre-synthesised polymers or by printing monomers onto the chip where on-slide polymerisation is initiated.The surface properties of the material can be analysed and correlated to the biological performance using high throughput surface analysis, including time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS), Xray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and water contact angle (WCA) measurements. This approach enables the surface properties responsible for the success of a material to be understood, which in turn provides the foundations of future material design. The high throughput discovery of materials using polymer microarrays has been explored for many cell-based applications including the isolation of specific 2 cells from heterogeneous populations, the attachment and differentiation of stem cells and the controlled transfection of cells.Further development of polymerisation techniques and high throughput biological assays amenable to the polymer microarray format will broaden the combinatorial space and biological phenomenon that polymer microarrays can explore, and increase their efficacy. This will, in turn, result in the discovery of optimised polymeric materials for many biomaterial applications.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

High throughput methods applied in biomaterial development and discovery

et al. 2010

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“…A surface energy gradient was applied along the z-axis direction of the CNT. In reality, this can be altered through chemical modification or a dc or ac electric field [33][34][35][36][37][38]. For each set, after initially equilibrating the system at a specific temperature (200, 300, or 330 K) assuming a uniform surface energy along the CNT, the water nanodroplet was kept at 5 nm from the left end of the CNT.…”

Section: System and Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Unidirectional motion of a water nanodroplet subjected to a surface energy gradient

Kou

Mei

et al. 2012

Phys. Rev. E

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We perform molecular dynamics simulations to demonstrate that when a nanodroplet is confined inside a carbon nanotube (CNT), unidirectional motion can be created by a nonzero surface energy gradient. It is found that the water nanodroplet moves along the direction of increasing surface energy. The transportation efficiency of the water nanodroplet is found to be dependent on the surface energy gradient; environmental temperature; and the flexibility, diameter, and defectiveness of the CNT. It is shown that higher surface energy gradient, the smaller diameter of the CNT, and fewer defects promote higher transportation efficiency. However, when the temperature is too high or too low, the water transport across the CNT is impeded. Except for the initial stage at the relatively low environmental temperature, higher flexibility of the CNT wall reduces the transportation efficiency. It is also found that the hydrogen bonds of water molecules play a role in the dynamic acceleration process with a wavelike feature. The present work provides insight for the development of CNT devices for applications such as drug delivery, nanopumps, chemical process control, and molecular medicine.

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“…However, the traditional in vitro cell culture methods for assessing the appositeness of disparate surface properties in a specific application require large numbers of cells and amounts of materials, and have very limited sample throughput. While protein and cell microarrays are currently used to great effect for multiplexed processing and can be applied to the screening of cell-material surface interactions [1][2][3] , it is anticipated that the introduction of gradient surfaces displaying spatial variation of physicochemical properties provide an alternative for the fast screening of biointerfacial phenomena 4,5 . This is of particular relevance for studying the attachment and proliferation of cells, which can be influenced by many different surface properties including topography 6,7 , surface chemistry 8 , wettability 9,10 , elastic modulus and the presence of chemical or biological signals 11,12 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Gradient surfaces with variations in topography 7,18 , wettability 9,10 , chemical composition 19,20 , polymer thickness and cross linking density across one dimension have been investigated by a number of research groups using a variety of surface preparation techniques 4,5,17 . Of greatest interest is the formation of surface chemistry gradients.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Preparation of chemical gradients on porous silicon by a dip coating method

et al. 2008

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Gradient surfaces have become invaluable tools for the high-throughput characterisation of biomolecule-and cellmaterial surface interactions as they allow for the screening and optimisation of surface parameters such as surface chemistry, topography and ligand density in a single experiment. Here, we have generated surface chemistry gradients on oxidised porous silicon (pSi) substrates using silane functionalisation. In these studies, pSi films with a pore size of 15-30 nm and a layer thickness of around 1.7 µm were utilised. The manufacture of gradient surface chemistries of silanes was performed using a simple dip coating method, whereby an increasing incubation time of the substrate in a solution of the silane led to increasing surface coverage of the silane. In this work, the hydrophobic n-octadecyldimethyl chlorosilane (ODCS) and pentafluorophenyldimethyl chlorosilane (PFPS) were used since they were expected to produce significant changes in wettability upon attachment. Chemical gradients were characterised using infrared (IR) spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and sessile drop water contact angle measurements. In addition, the surface chemistry of the gradient was mapped using synchrotron IR microscopy. The ODCS gradient displayed sessile drop water contact angles ranging from 12° to 71°, confirming the successful formation of a gradient. IR microscopy and an XPS line scan confirmed the formation of a chemical gradient on the porous substrate. Furthermore, the chemical gradients produced can be used for the high-throughput in vitro screening of protein and cell-surface interactions, leading to the definition of surface chemistry on nanostructured silicon which will afford improved control of biointerfacial interactions.

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Surface-chemical and -morphological gradients

Cited by 226 publications

References 125 publications

High throughput methods applied in biomaterial development and discovery

High throughput methods applied in biomaterial development and discovery

Unidirectional motion of a water nanodroplet subjected to a surface energy gradient

Preparation of chemical gradients on porous silicon by a dip coating method

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