Approaches to the controlled formation of network polymers

Glycopolymer Grafted Silica Gel as Chromatographic Packing Materials

The modification of the surface of silica gel to prepare hydrophilic chromatographic fillers has recently become a research interest. Most researchers have grafted natural sugar-containing polymers onto chromatographic surfaces. The disadvantage of this approach is that the packing structure is singular and the application scope is limited. In this paper, we explore the innovative technique of grafting a sugar-containing polymer, 2-gluconamidoethyl methacrylamide (GAEMA), onto the surface of silica gel by atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP). The SiO₂-g-GAEMA with ATRP reaction time was characterized by Fourier infrared analysis, Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and elemental analysis. As the reaction time lengthened, the amount of GAEMA grafted on the surface of the silica gel gradually increased. The GAEMA is rich in amide bonds and hydroxyl groups and is a typical hydrophilic chromatography filler. Finally, SiO₂-g-GAEMA (reaction time = 24 h) was chosen as the stationary phase of the chromatographic packing and evaluated with four polar compounds (uracil, cytosine, guanosine, and cytidine). Compared with unmodified silica gel, modified silica gel produces sharper peaks and better separation efficiency. This novel packing material may have a potential for application with highly isomerized sugar mixtures.

Antifouling gold surfaces grafted with aspartic acid and glutamic acid based zwitterionic polymer brushes

We report two new amino acid based antifouling zwitterionic polymers, poly(N(4)-(2-methacrylamidoethyl)asparagine) (pAspAA) and poly(N(5)-(2-methacrylamidoethyl)glutamine) (pGluAA). The vinyl monomers were developed from aspartic acid and glutamic acid. Surface-initiated photoiniferter-mediated polymerization was employed to graft polymer brushes from gold surfaces. Different thickness of polymer brushes was controlled by varying UV irradiation time. The nonspecific adsorption from undiluted human blood serum and plasma was studied by surface plasmon resonance (SPR). With the polymer film as thin as 11-12 nm, the adsorption on pAspAA from serum and plasma was as low as 0.75 and 5.18 ng/cm(2), respectively, and 1.88 and 10.15 ng/cm(2), respectively, for pGluAA. The adsorption amount is comparable to or even better than other amino acid based zwitterionic polymers such as poly(serine methacrylate), poly(lysine methacrylamide), and poly(ornithine methacrylamide) and other widely used antifouling polymers such as poly(sulfobetaine methacrylate), even under thinner polymer film thickness. The pAspAA and pGluAA grafted surfaces also showed strong resistance to endothelial cell attachment. The possession of both zwitterionic structure and hydrophilic amide groups, biomimetic property, and multifunctionality make pAspAA and pGluAA promising candidates for biocompatible antifouling functionalizable materials.

Novel cross-linked polyacrylamide matrices: an investigation using gradient gel electrophoresis

Gradient gel electrophoresis was used to examine the separation properties of novel cross-linking compounds for polyacrylamide (PAAm). At low %T and at the same %C protein migration difference is accentuated for bismethacrylamide cross-linked networks relative to bisacrylamide cross-linked networks. Similar properties were observed for cyclic monomers at low %T. This trend is maintained throughout the gradient. However, at higher %T migration differential relative to N,N'-methylenebisacrylamide (Bis) was less pronounced. Evidence from gradient gels suggests that reactivity and functionality of vinyl groups impose an overriding control over network formation.

Novel cross-linked homogeneous polyacrylamide gels with improved separation properties: investigation of the cross-linker functionality

Polyacrylamide (PAAm) gels were synthesized using cross-linkers with their potential functionality (twice the number of double bonds of a cross-linker) varying from six to sixteen. Improved electrophoretic separation and highly desirable porosity and sieving properties were observed for most of the PAAm gels containing novel cross-linkers. An increase in the potential functionality of cross-linkers used in PAAm gels was an important factor, influencing the pore size and pore size distribution of the network.

On the mechanism of background silver staining during sodium dodecyl sulphate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis

A novel experimental procedure to study the factors that contribute to background silver staining in sodium dodecyl sulphate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) is described. A mechanism is proposed for background silver staining, which was found to result primarily from the redox initiator system using ammonium persulphate (APS) and an amine such as N,N,N',N'-tetramethylethylenediamine (TEMED).