1. Silica−Polypeptide Composite Particles: Controlling Shell Growth
- Author
-
Erick Soto-Cantu, Sibel Turksen-Selcuk, Paul S. Russo, Jianhong Qiu, Margaret C. Henk, and Zhe Zhou
- Subjects
chemistry.chemical_classification ,Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy ,Passivation ,Composite number ,Shell (structure) ,Surfaces and Interfaces ,Polymer ,Silicon Dioxide ,Condensed Matter Physics ,Light scattering ,chemistry.chemical_compound ,Monomer ,Microscopy, Electron, Transmission ,chemistry ,Chemical engineering ,Transmission electron microscopy ,Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared ,Thermogravimetry ,Electrochemistry ,Particle ,Organic chemistry ,General Materials Science ,Peptides ,Spectroscopy - Abstract
A method is presented for preparing core-shell silica-polypeptide composite particles with variable and controllable shell growth. The procedure is demonstrated using poly(carbobenzoxy-L-lysine) and poly(benzyl-L-glutamate); after deprotection, these can lead to the most common basic and acidic homopolypeptides, poly(L-lysine) and poly(L-glutamic acid). Control over shell thickness is made possible by sequential addition of N-carboxyanhydride peptide monomer to surfaces that have been functionalized with an amino initiator combined with a surface passivation agent. This results in a series of particles having different shell thicknesses. Variation of shell thickness was evident both in light scattering and in thermogravimetric assays. The shells were visible by transmission electron microscopy; these images along with light scattering measurements suggest the polymers in the shells are highly solvated.
- Published
- 2010