Biocompatible particles

Water-soluble QDs now are available from a number of manufacturers (Invitrogen, Evident Technologies, and Crystalplex). Each supplier uses their own proprietary methods of surface pacification to create biocompatible particles. Even coated QD clusters are available that contain hundreds of particles bound together in a polymer matrix (Crystalplex). These form intensely bright labels for biomolecules, because the nanocrystals do not quench when clustered together at high density. 

Nadagouda, M.N., Castle, A.B., Murdock, R.C., Hussain, S.M. and Varma, R.S. (2010) In vitro biocompatibility of nanoscale zerovalent iron particles (NZVI) synthesized using tea polyphenols. Green Chemistry, 12, 114-122. 

Schiraldi et al. [64] have developed this kind of material by combining silica particles and pHEMA. pHEMA is a biocompatible hydrogel that has been widely studied in the past decades due to its chemical-physical structure and mechanical properties. It has been widely used in ophthalmic prostheses (contact or intraocular lenses), vascular prostheses, drug delivery systems and soft-tissue replacement [65]. These authors have shown that by incorporating silica nanoparticles, the resulting hybrid material is highly biocompatible and promotes bone cell adhesion and proliferation of bone cells seeded on it.1 ... 

Figure 14.5 A method of making particles biocompatible includes the use of PEG-based spacers. A lawn of mPEG molecules in interspersed with some longer PEG chains that terminate in carboxylate groups for coupling amine-containing molecules. The result is an extremely hydrophilic surface with low nonspecific binding.

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