Polymers for nanobiotechnology and bioelectronics - UHasselt

Polymeric materials are interesting candidates for applications at the interface between biological systems and electronics. For example, polymers can be tailored to interact with their aqueous biological surroundings, while at the same time being able to interface with electronics. The interests of the Polymers for Nanobiotechnology and Bioelectronics (PNB) group focuses on the synthesis, characterization and application of functional polymeric materials. Two types of polymeric materials are of particular interest, i.e. conjugated polymers and molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs). Over the past years, several conjugated polymeric materials developed by the Design & Synthesis of Organic Semiconductors group (DSOS) showing promising properties for bioelectronic applications. were further functionalized with (bio)molecules (antibodies, DNA, dyes, etc.) or polymeric side chains (polymer brushes) in collaboration with the Biomolecule Design group (BDG) and were subsequently integrated into biosensors and bioelectronics. The second area of interest focuses on Molecular Imprinted Polymers MIPs. The general concept of “molecular imprinting” is based on a polymerization of functional monomers and cross-linkers, surrounding a target molecule. In this way synthetic receptors, which mimic the molecular recognition by natural receptors, can be obtained. Currently, both new MIPs and new MIP preparation procedures are being developed. In addition, the obtained MIPs are being utilized for analytical separations, e.g. MIP based solid phase extraction, and as the sensing elements in biosensors for the detection of small molecules. The construction of the biosensors is done in cooperation with the Biosensor group (BIOS).