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Designer gradients speed surface science experiments
June 09, 2006Researchers from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have demonstrated an elegantly simple technique for synthesizing a wide variety of complex surfaces that vary in a controlled fashion across a test strip. The new technique is so flexible that it can be applied to surface science experiments ranging from developing better paints to exploring the bonding of proteins to cell membranes.
So-called "gradient composition surfaces"—their chemical composition changes gradually across the surface—have been shown to be powerful research tools for rapid, high-throughput testing of complicated surface properties, but they can be tricky to build. The new NIST technique described in a recent paper in Advanced Materials* coats a silicon wafer with a brush-like copolymer surface, varying the relative concentration of two components, or monomers, of the polymer along the length of the substrate. The dense polymer brush provides a controlled interaction surface at the top while effectively masking the underlying substrate.
The heart of the NIST technique is a combined microfluidic mixer and reaction chamber. The two components are injected into the mixer with gradually changing flow rates and mix thoroughly before filling a thin reaction chamber holding the silicon wafer substrate. Once the solution leaves the mixing region, the narrow dimensions of the reaction chamber inhibit further mixing, so the varying composition ratios through the chamber remain stable while the solution polymerizes on the substrate.
Because it keeps the fluid mixture concentrations stable for long periods, the new technique is unique in its ability to accommodate a wide variety of materials, potentially producing test surfaces for studying surface phenomena ranging from nanoscale interactions of biomolecules—critical for improving the performance of tissue-engineered medical products or for identifying the fundamental mechanisms key to cell/surface adhesion—to the performance of new products like paints or adhesives. The specific polymer used in these proof-of-concept experiments, for example, is typical of a temperature- or acidity-sensitive polymer that might be used in a drug delivery system.
National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
Because it keeps the fluid mixture concentrations stable for long periods, the new technique is unique in its ability to accommodate a wide variety of materials, potentially producing test surfaces for studying surface phenomena ranging from nanoscale interactions of biomolecules—critical for improving the performance of tissue-engineered medical products or for identifying the fundamental mechanisms key to cell/surface adhesion—to the performance of new products like paints or adhesives. The specific polymer used in these proof-of-concept experiments, for example, is typical of a temperature- or acidity-sensitive polymer that might be used in a drug delivery system.
National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
Surface Current Events and Surface News RSSResearch reveals exactly how coughing is triggered by environmental irritants
Scientists have revealed how environmental irritants such as air pollution and cigarette smoke cause people to cough, in research published today in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.
The cause behind the characteristic shape of a long leaf revealed
Applied mathematicians dissected the morphology of the plantain lily (Hosta lancifolia), a characteristic long leaf with a saddle-like arc midsection and closely packed ripples along the edges.
Scientists watch as peptides control crystal growth with 'switches, throttles and brakes'
By producing some of the highest resolution images of peptides attaching to mineral surfaces, scientists have a deeper understanding how biomolecules manipulate the growth crystals. This research may lead to a new treatment for kidney stones using biomolecules.
New Method to Measure Snow, Soil Moisture With GPS May Benefit Meteorologists, Farmers
A research team led by the University of Colorado at Boulder has found a clever way to use traditional GPS satellite signals to measure snow depth as well as soil and vegetation moisture, a technique expected to benefit meteorologists, water resource managers, climate modelers and farmers.
Beyond sunlight: Explorers census 17,650 ocean species between edge of darkness and black abyss
Census of Marine Life scientists have inventoried an astonishing abundance, diversity and distribution of deep sea species that have never known sunlight - creatures that somehow manage a living in a frigid black world down to 5,000 meters (~3 miles) below the ocean waves.
Surface bacteria maintain skin's healthy balance
On the skin's surface, bacteria are abundant, diverse and constant, but inflammation is undesirable. Research at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine now shows that the normal bacteria living on the skin surface trigger a pathway that prevents excessive inflammation after injury.
Gene mismatch influences success of bone marrow transplants
A commonly inherited gene deletion can increase the likelihood of immune complications following bone marrow transplantation, an international team of researchers reports in the November 22 advance online issue of Nature Genetics.
Measuring and modeling blood flow in malaria
When people have malaria, they are infected with Plasmodium parasites, which enter the body from the saliva of a mosquito, infect cells in the liver, and then spread to red blood cells.
New understanding about mechanism for cell death after stroke leads to possible therapy
Scientists at the Brain Research Centre, a partnership of the University of British Columbia Faculty of Medicine and Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute, have uncovered new information about the mechanism by which brain cells die following a stroke, as well as a possible way to mitigate that damage.
Reflux esophagitis due to immune reaction, not acute acid burn, UT Southwestern researchers report
Contrary to current thinking, a condition called gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) might not develop as a direct result of acidic digestive juices burning the esophagus, UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers have found in an animal study.
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