Sensing surface PEGylation with microcantilevers

Beilstein Journal of Nanotechnology

Roderick Y. H. Lim¹  Thomas Braun²  Natalija Backmann³  Natascha Kappeler³  Christoph Gerber³  François Huber³  Hans-Peter Lang³ 

[1] Biozentrum and the Swiss Nanoscience Institute, University of Basel, Klingelbergstrasse 70, 4056 Basel, Switzerland;Center for Cellular Imaging and Nanoanalytics, Biozentrum, University of Basel, Mattenstrasse 26, 4058 Basel, Switzerland;National Centre of Competence in Research in Nanoscale Science, Department of Physics, University of Basel, Klingelbergstrasse 82, 4056 Basel, Switzerland;

关键词: AFM;    cantilever sensor;    polyethylene glycol;    polymer brush;    reversible collapse;    static mode;   

DOI  :  10.3762/bjnano.1.2

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Polymers are often used to modify surface properties to control interfacial processes. Their sensitivity to solvent conditions and ability to undergo conformational transitions makes polymers attractive in tailoring surface properties with specific functionalities leading to applications in diverse areas ranging from tribology to colloidal stability and medicine. A key example is polyethylene glycol (PEG), which is widely used as a protein-resistant coating given its low toxicity and biocompatibility. We report here a microcantilever-based sensor for the in situ characterization of PEG monolayer formation on Au using the “grafting to” approach. Moreover, we demonstrate how microcantilevers can be used to monitor conformational changes in the grafted PEG layer in different solvent conditions. This is supported by atomic force microscope (AFM) images and force–distance curve measurements of the microcantilever chip surface, which show that the grafted PEG undergoes a reversible collapse when switching between good and poor solvent conditions, respectively.

【 授权许可】

Unknown