Understanding the formation of biominerals like nacre can lead to the fabrication of more advanced biomimetic materials. Several factors are known to influence the final form of both native nacre and biomimetic synthetic variants. Two important components in calcium carbonate biominerals such as nacre are the organic scaffold and the acidic proteins. Interactions between these two components ma...

The copolymer metal complexes in the form of imprinted polymers were prepared from Poly (vinyl alcohol) (PVA), Acrylic acid (AAc), Acrylamide (AAm) and 2-Acrylamido-2methyl propane sulfonic acid (AMPS) monomers irradiated in presence of different metal ions and crosslinking agent. Characteristics and some properties of the prepared imprinted and grafted polymers were investigated. Also the poss...

The adhesion of copper films to adjacent device layers including TiN, Ta, and TaN diffusion barriers is a crucial reliability issue for integrated circuits. We report that ultrathin layers of poly(acrylic acid) (PAA) prepared on barrier surfaces or on the native oxide of Si wafers dramatically increase the interfacial adhesion of Cu films deposited by the H2 assisted reduction of bis(2,2,7-trim...

In the present work, hydrogels based on acrylamide (AAm) and acrylic acid (AAc), crosslinked with N,N’-methylenebisacrylamide (MBAAm) were prepared by free radical polymerization in solution. The effect of initial AAm/AAc mole ratio and nominal crosslinking ratio (moles of crosslinking agent/moles of polymer repeat unit) on the dynamic and equilibrium swelling behaviour of hydrogels was investi...

A suspension protein microarray was developed using shape-coded poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) hydrogel microparticles for potential applications in multiplex and high-throughput immunoassays. A simple photopatterning process produced various shapes of hydrogel micropatterns that were weakly bound to poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS)-coated substrates. These micropatterns were easily detached from sub...

Microparticles or nanospheres of hydrogels of crosslinked poly(methacrylic acid) grafted with poly(ethylene glycol) as well as crosslinked poly(acrylic acid) grafted with poly(ethylene glycol) were prepared for use as oral insulin delivery carriers. The copolymer carriers were synthesized by precipitation/dispersion polymerization that led to gel nanospheres or by bulk polymerization and subseq...

The mechanical properties of poly(acrylic acid) (PAA) were investigated on the molecular scale by using AFM. PAA was adsorbed onto a glass substrate and then picked up at one point of the chain with the AFM tip and stretched. The deformation of single PAA chains under tension was measured and modeled by a modified freely-joint-chain model. The length distribution of loops and tails of adsorbed ...