Jon-Paul Griffiths

Chemical functionalization of diamond surfaces by reaction with diaryl carbenes.

A rapid route to the chemical functionalization of hydrogen-terminated diamond surfaces deposited by chemical vapor deposition involving their reaction with substituted diaryl carbenes has been investigated. To avoid difficulties in the handling of highly reactive compounds, the carbene is generated in situ from the thermal decomposition at 400 K of a thin film of the corresponding diaryl diazomethane precursor deposited at the diamond interface. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) has been used to verify that surface functionalization using two starting compounds, bis(4-iodophenyl) diazomethane and bis(4-nitrophenyl) diazomethane, can be achieved using this approach in agreement with recent theoretical studies. The surface grafting density is measured to be around 10(14) cm(-2) in each case. The chemistry observed is found to be insensitive to the detailed properties of the diamond film and to the presence of oxygen contamination at the hydrogen-terminated diamond surface. We further demonstrate the utility of the approach, in the case of the bound nitrophenyl compound, by its reduction to the corresponding primary amine followed by reaction with fluorescein isothiocyanate to achieve fluorescent tagging of the diamond interface.

Surface functional polymers by post-polymerization modification using diarylcarbenes: introduction, release and regeneration of hydrogen peroxide and bactericidal activity.

Functionalized diarylcarbenes are excellent reactive intermediates suitable for the direct surface modification of organic polymers, and these may be used to introduce urea and thiourea functions onto polystyrene at loading levels of up to 2.3 x 10(13) molecules/cm(2). These functions are capable of the reversible binding and release of peroxide at loading levels of up to 0.6 mmol/g and give polymers that display biocidal activity against a spectrum of gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria.

Post-polymerisation modification of surface chemical functionality and its effect on protein binding

Derivatisation of polystyrene by carbene insertions followed by diazonium coupling permits the introduction of diverse chemical functionality, providing access to materials with similar bulk properties, but in which surface chemical characteristics are systematically varied across a range of surface polarity, hydration and non-bonding interaction behaviour. Protein binding experiments with bovine serum albumin demonstrate that protein adhesion is dependent upon the identity of the surface chemical group, with tert-butyl, hexyl, dimethylamino, amino, and carboxyl modified systems all exhibiting higher levels of binding, while glycol, hydroxyl, and phosphonate give similar or lower levels of binding, relative to the control. This behaviour has been shown to be time dependent, and an approximate trend of protein binding with cheminformatic descriptors %PSA and contact angle was observed.

CONTROL OF WETTING BEHAVIOR USING POST-POLYMERIZATION MODIFICATIONS OF SURFACE CHEMICAL FUNCTIONALITY

Modification of surface chemical functionality of a variety of materials using the reactions of readily accessible diarylcarbenes permits the control of wetting behavior. When coupled with an additional chemical derivatization step, a wider range of surface polarity becomes available.

ENGINEERING OF SURFACE FUNCTIONALITY ONTO POLYSTYRENE MICROCARRIERS FOR THE ATTACHMENT AND GROWTH OF HUMAN ENDOTHELIAL CELLS

This work reports the effects of introducing diverse chemical functionalities onto the surface of polystyrene microcarrier beads on their ability to function as injectable cell carriers. Cellular adhesion and proliferation, as well as cellular outgrowths from microcarrier surfaces, using human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs), were examined in detail. It was observed that initial cell adhesion appeared to be most significantly decreased by hydrophobicity, whilst cell proliferation appeared to be improved in most chemical functional groups over unmodified polystyrene. Overall, our study highlights the importance of surface chemistry in directing the growth and function of human endothelial cells.