Synthesis of a PEG-PNIPAm Thermosensitive Dendritic Copolymer and Investigation of Its Self-association

A Novel thermosensitive dendritic copolymer based on polyethylene glycol（PEG） and poly（Nisopropylacrylamide）（PNIPAm） with a cloud point（CP） around 36 ？C was successfully synthesized by preparation of a dendritic polyol and followed by atom transfer radical polymerization（ATRP） of N-isopropylacrylamide. The dendritic copolymer was characterized using gel-permeation chromatography（GPC）, FTIR and 1H-NMR spectroscopy. The selfassociation behavior of the copolymer in aqueous medium was investigated by dynamic light scattering（DLS） and transmission electron microscopy（TEM）. These investigations confirmed that the dendritic copolymer showed different association behaviors at various temperatures.

Advanced Surfaces by Anchoring Thin Hydrogel Layers of Functional Polymers

Surface design and engineering is a critical tool to improve the interaction of materials with their surroundings. Immobilization of soft hydrogels is one of the attractive strategies to achieve surface modification. The goal of this review is to provide a comprehensive overview of the different strategies used for surface tethering of hydrogel layers via crosslinking immobilization of pre-fabricated functional polymers. In this strategy, crosslinkable polymers are first prepared via various polymerization techniques or post-functionalization of polymers. Afterwards, the crosslinkable polymers are attached or tethered on the surfaces of substrates using a variety of approaches including photo-crosslinking, click reactions, reversible linkages, etc. For each case, the principles of hydrogel tethering have been explained in detail with representative examples.Moreover, the potential applications of the as-modified substrates in specific cases have also been addressed and overviewed.

Green CoNi_(2)S_(4)/porphyrin decorated carbon-based nanocomposites for genetic materials detection

A one-pot synthesis method was conceptualized and implemented to develop green carbon-based nanocomposites working as biosensors.Porphyrin was synthesized to adorn the surface of nanocomposites making them highly sensitive for giving rise to π-π interactions between the genetic materials,proteins and porphyrin rings.The hydrogen bond formed between the proteins(analytes)and the nitrogen in the porphyrin structure as well as the surface hydroxyl groups was equally probable.In this context,different forms of porphyrins were incorporated to explore the interrelationship between the surface morphology and the ability of detection of genetic material and/or proteins by the aid of the synthesized structures.This phenomenon was conceptualized to optimize the interactions between the biomolecules and the substrate by reaching significant biosensor application in the presence of Anti-cas9 protein and sgRNA(concentration changed between 10 and 500 n mol/L).Almost full quenching of fluorescence emission was observed after addition of 300 n mol/L of Anti-cas9 protein and 250 n mol/L of sgRNA.Surprisingly,CoNi_(2)S_(4)provided 12%-29%cytotoxicity in both HEK-293 and PC12 cell lines.