Organic conductors and biomolecules: A formidable combination

POLY 23

Gordon G. Wallace, gwallace@uow.edu.au, ARC Centre of Excellence for Electromaterials Science and the Intelligent Polymer Research Institute, University of Wollongong, Northfields Avenue, Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia
The integration of organic conductors and biomolecules results in new materials suitable for a range of applications from biosensing to new platforms for mammalian cell culturing. A number of our recent approaches to achieving this integration will be discussed here. Amongst these are: 1) The electropheretic assembly of conducting polymer nanoparticles and subsequent immobilization of proteins has proven useful for biosensing. 2)A simple immobilization process involving stuffing biomolecules into preformed conducting polymers has been developed and provides a versatile route to biosensor construction. 3) Electrospinning of carbon nanotube - biomolecule composites provides nanofibrous mats suitable for biosensors and/or for mammalian cell culturing. The synthesis, assembly and characterisation of each of these polymer structures will be discussed.
 

Polymers in Biosensors and Biochips
8:30 AM-12:10 PM, Sunday, 10 September 2006 San Francisco Marriott -- Salon 12/13, Oral

Division of Polymer Chemistry

The 232nd ACS National Meeting, San Francisco, CA, September 10-14, 2006