Journal of Materials Chemistry Blog

The bacteria Gluconacetobacter xylinus produces cellulose that is highly crystalline and has a high degree of polymerisation. The cellulose can be converted into rod-like nanocrystals which have very high modulus and strength. A variety of nanocomposites can be prepared by incorporating cellulose nanocrystals with polymers to give materials with excellent properties. Silver nanoparticles are well known to improve the anti-bacterial properties of polymer materials.

Scientists in India have prepared a hybrid nanocomposite from the combination of cellulose nanocrystals and silver nanoparticles as reinforcing fillers for the polymer PVA. Both the nanocrystals and the silver nanoparticles improved the mechanical properties of the PVA films. The nanocrystals increased the modulus and tensile strength of the films, while the nanoparticles decreased the brittleness of the films. These effects could be useful in making more biocompatible materials for applications such as in tissue engineering.

Augmented properties of PVA hybrid nanocomposites containing cellulose nanocrystals and silver nanoparticles
J. Mater. Chem., 2012, 22, 22433.  DOI: 10.1039/c2jm35235d (free to read for a short time)

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It is widely accepted that biomimetic culture systems should replicate natural tissues as closely as possible to promote optimal cell proliferation, migration, differentiation and survival. These systems are important for biomedical applications such as tissue engineering, biosensors and the development of cellular models of disease. There are many techniques (e.g. microcontact printing, photo- and nanolithography, inkjet printing and photoimmobilisation) that can spatially deposit bioactive molecules for the patterning and guidance of cells. These techniques can suffer from poor cytocompatibility and spatial resolution.

Work by De Bank’s group at the University of Bath reported in this hot paper describes the patterning of biomaterial matrices with multiple bioactive molecules using a caged aldehyde linker. This approach removes any possible unwanted reactivity with functional groups commonly found in biological systems. The authors report that the caged linker can be coupled to many different biomaterials and readily undergoes photolysis in aqueous media. It is suggested that this general approach will have applications in advancing many areas – tissue modelling, tissue engineering, biosensors and regenerative medicine.

A photocleavable linker for the chemoselective functionalization of biomaterials
J. Mater. Chem., 2012, 22, 21878. DOI: 10.1039/c2jm35173k
(free to read for a short time)

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A simple yet powerful computational method of generating models that link microscopic or molecular properties of polymers to their biological effects has been reported by Winkler and co-workers.

At present the synthesis and characterisation of novel materials for tissue engineering is a time-consuming and costly process. In this hot paper, the adhesion of human embryonic stem cell embryoid bodies (hEB) to a large library of polymers is studied. Using a mathematical description of the molecular properties of the polymers, a novel method was employed to predict experimental hEB adhesion of the polymer library. This method was found to produce models that could accurately describe stem cell hEB adhesion on polymeric surfaces. The method could be used to predict polymers with improved properties for tissue engineering and other biomedical areas.

Modelling human embryoid body cell adhesion to a combinatorial library of polymer surfaces
J. Mater. Chem., 2012, 22, 20902
DOI: 10.1039/c2jm34782b (free to read for a short time)

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