Programmable bioelectronics in a stimuli-encoded 3D graphene interface

The ability to program and mimic the dynamic microenvironment of living organisms is a crucial step towards the engineering of advanced bioelectronics. Here, we report for the first time a design for programmable bioelectronics, with 'built-in' switchable and tunable bio-catalytic performance that responds simultaneously to appropriate stimuli. The designed bio-electrodes comprise light and temperature responsive compartments, which allow the building of Boolean logic gates (i.e."OR" and "AND") based on enzymatic communications to deliver logic operations.

One-pot synthesis of iniferter-bound polystyrene core nanoparticles for the controlled grafting of multilayer shells

A novel approach using one-pot synthesis for the production of uniform, iniferter-bound polystyrene core nanoparticles of size 30-40 nm is described. Conventional oil-in-water emulsion polymerisation of styrene and divinylbenzene, combining a hybrid initiation system (thermal and UV), triggered sequentially, was employed to form the surface-bound thiocarbamate iniferters in situ. The iniferter cores were then used as seeds for re-initiating further polymerisation by UV irradiation to produce water-compatible core-shell nanoparticles. Grafting of various shell-types is demonstrated: linear polymers of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) brushes, crosslinked polymers bearing different surface charges and molecularly imprinted polymers. The shell thickness was readily tuned by varying the monomers' concentration and polymerisation time. Our method is straightforward and in addition, gives access to the preparation of fluorescent seeds and the possibility of grafting nanosized multiple shells. The core-shell nanoparticles were fully characterised by dynamic light scattering, transmission electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and microelemental analysis.

Solid-phase synthesis of molecularly imprinted nanoparticles for protein recognition

A solid-phase synthesis approach to prepare molecularly imprinted polymer nanoparticles (MIP-NPs) specific for trypsin is described. The protein is immobilized on a solid support upon which thermoresponsive MIP-NPs are synthesized. The MIP-NPs are released by a simple temperature change, resulting in synthetic antibody mimics exhibiting high specificity and selectivity for trypsin.

Long wavelength photoinitiated free radical polymerization using conjugated thiophene derivatives in the presence of onium salts

A highly conjugated thiophene derivative, 3,5-diphenyldithieno[3,2-b:2′,3′-d]-thiophene, has been used as an electron-transfer photosensitizer for long wavelength free radical photopolymerization of (meth)acrylic monomers in the presence of onium salts.