RSC Applied Polymers Blog

RSC Applied Polymers has published its first articles. To celebrate this we wish to introduce some of our #RSCAppliedfirst50 authors and their recently published articles.

In this post we feature an introduction to Simultaneous photo-induced polymerization and surface modification by microfluidic spinning to produce functionalized polymer microfibers: Effect of their surface modification on cell adhesion written by the team of researchers behind the paper.

 

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An Introduction to Simultaneous photo-induced polymerization and surface modification by microfluidic spinning to produce functionalized polymer microfibers: Effect of their surface modification on cell adhesion by Dr Delphine Chan-Seng et al.

Microfluidics refers both to the science of fluid flows (liquid or gas) in channels whose characteristic length is of the order of a few dozen to several hundred micrometres, as well as to the techniques and objects needed to manipulate them. As such, microfluidics can be considered for the preparation of polymers with various shapes ranging from spherical particles to fibres. Our group has been recently focusing its interest on producing polymer microfibers by photopolymerization using a capillary-based microfluidic device. We demonstrated the control of the features of the fibres obtained through the operating parameters and the nature of the monomers used. In this work, we report the first example of simultaneous formation of the polymer microfibers and their surface modification in a simple and fast one-step process. Acrylate monomers present in the core phase were photopolymerized, while the surface of the fibre was modified thanks to the presence of reactive molecule towards acrylate in the continuous phase. The effect of the modification of the fibre surface was investigated in terms of wetting properties and ability to promote cell adhesion. The fibres modified using molecules bearing multiple thiol groups were the more promising exhibiting a decrease in hydrophilicity at the fibre surface and an increase in cell adhesion. The advantages of microfluidic spinning (continuous synthesis avoiding problems of batch-to-batch reproducibility issues) combining with those of our strategy to modify polymer fibres without post-production modification (cost and time reduction) offer an appealing approach in the fields of functional polymer fibres developed for a wide range of applications.

 

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Wasif Razzaq is an accomplished researcher and assistant professor specializing in polymer science and engineering. He holds a Ph.D. in process engineering with a focus on polymer science and engineering from the University of Strasbourg, France. With expertise in microfluidic spinning of polymer microfibers and the development of novel and smart materials, he has made significant contributions to the field. He has published several research papers in renowned journals and has presented his work at international conferences. In addition to his research, he has a strong teaching background, having served as an assistant professor in Department of Materials, National Textile University, Pakistan

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Christophe Serra is a Distinguished Professor of Chemical Engineering at the University of Strasbourg (France). He received his Ph.D. in 1996 from the University Paul Sabatier in Toulouse (France) with a work on hollow fibres. Then, he spent 18 months as a postdoctoral researcher at Rice University (Houston, TX) making CFD simulations on rotating and stationary membrane disk. Since 1998. He has been a faculty member of the University Louis Pasteur which became the University of Strasbourg in 2009. His researches concern the development of new microfluidic-assisted polymer processes for the synthesis of architecture-controlled polymers as well as functional micro- and nanostructured polymer particles and fibres. In 2015 he joined the Charles Sadron Institute (ICS, UPR 22 CNRS) and took the head of the group on Polymer Engineering and Process Intensification (IP²).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Candice Dussouillez is assistant engineer in biology at the University of pharmacology in Illkirch-Graffenstaden and work under the supervision of Antoine Kichler. After a master degree in virology in the University of Strasbourg, she joined the 3Bio team for the required internship to work on cancerology in 2019 and was then recruited in the team to work on vectorization of drugs, proteins and nucleic acids alongside Antoine Kichler.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Naji Kharouf is Associate Professor in Faculty of Dentistry and the department of Biomaterials & Bioengineering INSERM UMR_S 1121 at the Strasbourg University, France. He has been working in dental biomaterials, endodontic treatment, coronal restorative techniques, bioactive molecules, microsurgical skeels and dental morphology since 2018 (H-Index: 14, 2024). He has been speaker in several international conferences. He has published, in collaboration with internationally researchers, more than 68 scientific papers in international peer-review journals with high impact in the dental and biomaterials field. He has a Certificate in Oral Implantology, a Master degree in Biomaterials for Health, a Microsurgical Diploma, an Esthetic of Smile Diploma, a Ph.D. in Endodontics, a Post-Doc in Dental materials and finally a H.D.R. in Dental materials modified with graphene.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Irene Andrea Acuña Mejía obtained a chemical engineering diploma from Universidad Nacional de Colombia in Bogota, Colombia in 2018. Afterwards, she obtained her master’s degree in Polymer Science and Sustainable Materials at the University of Strasbourg and the University of Freiburg in 2021. Then, she joined IP² team at Institut Charles Sadron as an engineer in 2022. She worked on the development of an intensified process for the continuous production of hybrid polymeric microparticles with solvatochromic properties using microfluidics, encapsulating metallic nanoparticles within a polymeric matrix. Currently, her work focuses on the production of functionalized polymersomes using different microfluidic devices.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Antoine Kichler is research Director at the CNRS. He received his Ph.D. in pharmaco-chemistry in 1994 from the University of Strasbourg (France). After two post-doctoral positions he moved to Genethon in Evry in 1997 (France) to head a group working on non-viral gene delivery before joining the Faculté de Pharmacie of Strasbourg in 2012. His research interests are in the field of vectorization of anti-tumoral drugs, proteins and nucleic acids (DNA, mRNA, siRNA) using a variety of delivery systems including cell penetrating peptides, polymers and lipids.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Delphine Chan-Seng is a CNRS (French National Center for Scientific Research) researcher at the Institut Charles Sadron in Strasbourg (France). She carried out her graduate studies with Michael K. Georges (Ph.D., 2007, University of Toronto, Canada) and did a postdoctoral stay in the group of Todd Emrick (2007-2011, University of Massachusetts at Amherst, USA) working on projects in the field of polymer chemistry. In 2011, she started her independent career as a CNRS researcher joining the Institut Charles Sadron. Her research focuses on designing polymers, among which some are stimuli-sensitive, for biomedical applications (drug and gene delivery, bioimaging, etc.) by combining organic and polymer chemistry, peptide synthesis, and macromolecular engineering.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Simultaneous photo-induced polymerization and surface modification by microfluidic spinning to produce functionalized polymer microfibers: the effect of their surface modification on cell adhesion
Wasif Razzaq, Christophe A. Serra, Candice Dussouillez, Naji Kharouf, Irene Andrea Acuña Mejía, Antoine Kichlerc and Delphine Chan-Seng.

RSC Appl. Polym., 2024,2, 62-70. DOI: 10.1039/D3LP00032J.

 

 

 

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RSC Applied Polymers is a leading international journal for the application of polymers, including experimental and computational studies on both natural and synthetic systems. In this journal, you can discover cross-disciplinary scientific research that leverages polymeric materials in a range of applications. This includes high impact advances made possible with polymers across materials, biology, energy applications and beyond. Find out more about the journal Read our first articles Submit your manuscript today Sign up for email alerts Follow us on social media

RSC Applied Polymers has published its first articles. To celebrate this we wish to introduce some of our #RSCAppliedfirst50 authors and their recently published articles.

In this post we feature authors Professor Jon Pokorski and Mr Samuel Hays for the article ‘Melt Stability of Carbonic Anhydrase in Polyethylene oxide for Extrusion of Protein-Polymer Composite Materials’.

 

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An Introduction to ‘Melt Stability of Carbonic Anhydrase in Polyethylene oxide for Extrusion of Protein-Polymer Composite Materials’ by Samuel Hayes.

 

In this work, we demonstrate the thermal stability of powdered bovine carbonic anhydrase during melt-processing of polyethylene oxide, (PEO), up to temperatures of 190 °C.  Carbonic anhydrase, (CA), is a biologically common enzyme, capable of quickly catalyzing the conversion between CO₂ and HCO₃^–.  Carbonic anhydrase is an exciting, biologically friendly tool for CO₂ capture.  Melt processing, specifically hot melt extrusion, is a manufacturing technique capable of generating products with controlled geometries at massive scale.  Melt extruding PEO with dispersed CA into membrane shapes should allow for mass production of functional, enzymatic membranes for CO₂ capture.

This work investigates the role of temperature, shear rate, and PEO molecular weight (MW), on the recovery of catalytically active CA following melt processing.  Close to 80% of the protein remained active following processing up to 130 °C, regardless of shear stresses and PEO MW.  At a temperature of 190 °C, there was a clear increase in protein recovery when increasing PEO MW, with higher PEO MW samples having as much as 40% of initial protein still active.  Additionally, the CA recovered had structure and activity of native CA, suggesting non-conjugated, high MW PEO can preserve the enzyme beyond standard protein aggregation temperatures.

The role of PEO in this process is not completely understood, however hypotheses are provided to guide future work as understanding this mechanism can lead to more advanced and scalable carbon capture applications.  The feasibility of melt-processing PEO with carbonic anhydrase is very exciting.  Membrane materials will be made in future work with the goal of mass producing of enzymatic membranes for CO₂ capture.

 

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Samuel Hays received his BS in 2018 and MS in 2020 in chemical and biomolecular engineering from Georgia Tech, working with Dr. William Koros on carbon molecular sieve membranes for natural gas purification.  In 2020, he joined Dr. Jonathan Pokorski’s group in the Nanoengineering department at UC San Diego, working towards his PhD in chemical engineering.  His work focuses on developing biocatalytic membranes for CO₂ capture.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Professor Pokorski began his career by earning his B.S. in biochemistry from UCLA, while working in private industry designing biomedical devices. Dr. Pokorski received his PhD in chemistry from Northwestern University, where he designed peptidomimetics for use in medical diagnostics and therapeutics. Dr. Pokorski then moved to The Scripps Research Institute as a post-doctoral fellow, where he engineered viral nanoparticles as drug-delivery systems. Pokorski started his independent career at Case Western Reserve University in the Macromolecular Science and Engineering department developing bioconjugate materials. Pokorski’s laboratory at UCSD now works to bridge chemical synthesis, molecular biology, and materials science to make new materials for applications in biomedicine and sustainability. Pokorski’s research has been funded through grants from the NIH, NSF, DOE and ACS. He has been awarded several prestigious awards, including an ACS PRF New Investigator Award and an NIH Pathway to Independence Award. Pokorski currently serves as an IRG lead for the UC San Diego MRSEC.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Melt stability of carbonic anhydrase in polyethylene oxide for extrusion of protein–polymer composite materials

Samuel S. Hays and Jonathan K. Pokorski

RSC Appl. Polym., 2024, Advance Article. DOI: 10.1039/D3LP00193H

 

 

 

 

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RSC Applied Polymers is a leading international journal for the application of polymers, including experimental and computational studies on both natural and synthetic systems. In this journal, you can discover cross-disciplinary scientific research that leverages polymeric materials in a range of applications. This includes high impact advances made possible with polymers across materials, biology, energy applications and beyond. Find out more about the journal Read our first articles Submit your manuscript today Sign up for email alerts Follow us on social media

RSC Applied Polymers has published its first articles. To celebrate this we wish to introduce some of our #RSCAppliedfirst50 authors and their recently published articles.

In this post we feature corresponding author Dr Rachel Hand for the article ‘A simple approach to determining the efficacy of antiperspirants using paper-based colorimetric paper sensors: SweatSENSE’.

 

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An Introduction to ‘A simple approach to determining the efficacy of antiperspirants using paper-based colorimetric paper sensors: SweatSENSE’ by Dr Rachel A. Hand.

 

Antiperspirant is a vast global industry, as worldwide it is used at least daily by a majority of people to tackle the perceived problem of sweat. However, prior to SweatSENSE, there was no simple way to assess the efficacy of new products in a variety of environments.
SweatSENSE is a project that started during my PhD and over the years has seen a number of researchers work collaboratively across the University of Warwick and Unilever to progress it from the paint brush tests we started with to the inkjet-printed paper-based sensor in use globally by Unilever today. The device is also patented and can be seen in use as a marketing tool here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=myRleLw5TNM
Our imidazolium derivative of polydiacetylene is key to the device as it is changes in polarity that disrupt the conjugation within the polymer itself that provides the colorimetric element of the sensor. Our modifications mean that the polymer is not hydrochromic; it does not exhibit a colour change (from blue to red) to water, but does react in the presence of weak organic acids (known malodorous components of sweat). We also demonstrated that body temperature does not invoke the colour change, this coupled with the tuned reaction time eliciting a full axilla response in 5 seconds means that the device can be used globally, including in climates with high humidity, enabling simple fast worldwide testing with no need for challenging storage and transportation of samples.
Furthermore, we demonstrated that the device can be used to differentiate between people using different products in the underarm and within this we observe greater differences in, and therefore it is easier to differentiate between subsections that are grouped based on the level of sweat typically produced, compared to using the traditional method.
Finally, the authors dedicate the paper in the memory of Dr Maria Grypioti.

 

 

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Rachel Hand graduated from the University of Warwick with a Master of Chemistry with Industrial Training degree (MChem. (Hons.)) in 2015. As part of this, Rachel spent the third year of her undergraduate degree working in industry at Ashland Specialty Ingredients before returning to Warwick to complete her degree with an MChem. research project in the group of Professor Dave Haddleton entitled ‘The Synthesis and use of Macromonomers by Catalytic Chain Transfer Polymerisation (CCTP).’ Rachel remained in the Haddleton group to complete her Unilever sponsored PhD entitled ‘Novel Devices for Sampling and Analysis of Volatiles.’ in 2019. She then spent 21 months as a Partnership for Clean Competition (PCC) funded PDRA working on Molecularly Imprinted Polymers (MIPs) for the detection of Anabolic Androgenic Steroids in biological samples at De Montfort University, Leicester (with Prof. Nick Turner) where she remained a visiting Research Fellow until 2023. As part of this, she is also a visiting research fellow at The Open University in Milton Keynes. Rachel returned to Warwick in February 2021 where she spent two years as Unilever Research Fellow in Polymer Chemistry before becoming an Assistant Professor in Sustainable Futures (Chemistry), where she is course leader of the new transdisciplinary Postgraduate Taught MSc in Global Decarbonisation & Climate Change. Rachel’s research sits at the interface of polymer chemistry and analytical chemistry, designing and synthesising interactive polymers and new analytical methodologies for a variety of applications in the biomedical and personal care fields, with a focus on sustainability. As part of this, Rachel is also currently a thematic fellow of the Institute of Global Sustainable Development.

 

 

 

 

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A simple approach to determining the efficacy of antiperspirants using paper-based colorimetric paper sensors: SweatSENSE.

Rachel A. Hand, Spyridon Efstathiou, Alan M. Wemyss, Maria Grypioti, Gavin Kirby, Tammie Barlow, Emmett Cullen Tinley, Jane Ford, Andy Jamieson, Janette Reynolds, Jean Miller, Susan Bates, Ezat Khoshdelab and David M. Haddleton.

RSC Appl. Polym., 2024,2, 98-104. DOI: 10.1039/D3LP00214D.

 

 

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RSC Applied Polymers is a leading international journal for the application of polymers, including experimental and computational studies on both natural and synthetic systems. In this journal, you can discover cross-disciplinary scientific research that leverages polymeric materials in a range of applications. This includes high impact advances made possible with polymers across materials, biology, energy applications and beyond. Find out more about the journal Read our first articles Submit your manuscript today Sign up for email alerts Follow us on social media