Surface-initiated ring opening polymerization of N-carboxy anhydride of benzyl-l-glutamate monomers on soft flexible substrates

Sustainable Life Cycles of Natural-Precursor-Derived Nanocarbons

Sustainable societal and economic development relies on novel nanotechnologies that offer maximum efficiency at minimal environmental cost. Yet, it is very challenging to apply green chemistry approaches across the entire life cycle of nanotech products, from design and nanomaterial synthesis to utilization and disposal. Recently, novel, efficient methods based on nonequilibrium reactive plasma chemistries that minimize the process steps and dramatically reduce the use of expensive and hazardous reagents have been applied to low-cost natural and waste sources to produce value-added nanomaterials with a wide range of applications. This review discusses the distinctive effects of nonequilibrium reactive chemistries and how these effects can aid and advance the integration of sustainable chemistry into each stage of nanotech product life. Examples of the use of enabling plasma-based technologies in sustainable production and degradation of nanotech products are discussed-from selection of precursors derived from natural resources and their conversion into functional building units, to methods for green synthesis of useful naturally degradable carbon-based nanomaterials, to device operation and eventual disintegration into naturally degradable yet potentially reusable byproducts.

Anti-bacterial surfaces: natural agents, mechanisms of action, and plasma surface modification

This article reviews antibacterial surface strategies based on reactive plasma chemistry, focusing on how plasma-assisted processing of natural antimicrobial agents can produce antifouling and antibacterial materials for biomedical devices.

Novel injectable porous poly(γ-benzyl-l-glutamate) microspheres for cartilage tissue engineering: preparation and evaluation

A novel injectable synthetic polypeptide of a poly(γ-benzyl-l-glutamate) macroporous microcarrier was developed for cartilage tissue engineering.

Fusing Catechol-Driven Surface Anchoring with Rapid Hetero Diels-Alder Ligation

We fuse the surface anchoring abilities of catechols with the rapid ligating nature of thiocarbonyl thio-based hetero-Diels-Alder (HDA) reactions via the synthesis of a new small molecule (HDA-DOPA-Cp) combining a HDA moiety with a catechol. Inspired by the mechanism of strong adhesion of marine mussels, we employed catechols as anchors to attach HDA ligation points to silicon wafers. The latter was exploited to generate a base for the HDA reactions on the surface employing α-cyclopentadiene (Cp) functional polymers such as poly(ethylene glycol)-Cp (PEG-Cp) and poly(trifluoro ethyl methacrylate)-Cp (PTFEMA-Cp) as dienes. By utilizing the fast and efficient HDA chemistry in combination with catechol anchoring groups, a new method for creating functional surfaces was developed.

Preparation and characterization of bimodal porous poly(γ-benzyl-L-glutamate) scaffolds for bone tissue engineering

An ideal scaffold in bone tissue-engineering strategy should provide biomimetic extracellular matrix-like architecture and biological properties. Poly(γ-benzyl-L-glutamate) (PBLG) has been a popular model polypeptide for various potential biomedical applications due to its good biocompatibility and biodegradability. This study developed novel bimodal porous PBLG polypeptide scaffolds via a combination of biotemplating method and in situ ring-opening polymerization of γ-benzyl-L-gIutamate N-carboxyanhydride (BLG-NCA). The PBLG scaffolds were characterized by proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, differential scanning calorimetry, scanning electron microscope (SEM) and mechanical test. The results showed that the semi-crystalline PBLG scaffolds exhibited an anisotropic porous structure composed of honeycomb-like channels (100-200 μm in diameter) and micropores (5-20 μm), with a very high porosity of 97.4±1.6%. The compressive modulus and glass transition temperature were 402.8±20.6 kPa and 20.2°C, respectively. The in vitro biocompatibility evaluation with MC3T3-E1 cells using SEM, fluorescent staining and MTT assay revealed that the PBLG scaffolds had good biocompatibility and favored cell attachment, spread and proliferation. Therefore, the bimodal porous polypeptide scaffolds are promising for bone tissue engineering.