Nanostructured membranes and capsules for biosensing, catalysis and drug delivery
This project concerns the design of membrane structures for various applications fabricated using the layer-by-layer method of self assembly.
The layer-by-layer (LbL) self-assembly method, which is based on the stepwise electrostatic assembly of oppositely charged species has emerged as a promising and versatile approach to construct nanostructured functional films onto charged surfaces either on planar substrates or colloids of various shapes and sizes. This flexible and facile procedure permits the coating of various substrates with uniform layers of diverse composition and controllable thickness (on a nanometer scale). This project will take two directions. One direction is to use biomolecules, nanoparticles, porphyrins and biocompatible polymers as building blocks to create new types of thin nanocomposite films and investigate their application in biosensing and catalysis. The other direction is to develop a novel pathway to fabricate nanoengineered core-shell structures by layer-by layer absorption of oppositely charged macromolecules onto colloidal particles, or in some cases onto porous supports that lead to tubular structures. This method has the capacity to employ a great variety of substances as shell constituents as well as core materials, which can be removed leaving hollow capsules. These hollow capsules have wide application in such areas as encapsulating bioactive molecules (proteins or drugs), working as confined nano- or microreactors, and modeling biological cells. Currently work on creating thin films containing porphyrin and using mesoporous silica nanoparticles as sacrificial templates for protein and drug immobilisation and delivery is underway in our laboratory.
