Bioengineered polymers

THIRD ORDER NONLINEAR OPTICAL INTERACTIONS IN SOME BIOENGINEERED POLYMERS... 

The nonlinear optical (NLO) susceptibilities of bioengineered aromatic polymers synthesized by enzyme-catalyzed reactions are given in Tables 2, 3, and 4. Homopolymers and copolymers are synthesized by enzyme-catalyzed reactions from aromatic monomers such as phenols and aromatic amines and their alkyl-substituted derivatives. The third-order nonlinear optical measurements are carried out in solutions at a concentration of 1 mg/mL of the solvent. Unless otherwise indicated, most of the polymers are solubilized in a solvent mixture of dimethyl formamide and methanol (DMF-MeOH) or dimethyl sulfoxide and methanol (DMSO-MeOH), both in a 4 1 ratio. These solvent mixtures are selected on the basis of their optical properties at 532 nm (where all the NLO measurements reported here are carried out), such as low noise and optical absorption, and solubility of the bioengineered polymers in the solvent system selected. To reduce light scattering, the polymer solutions are filtered to remove undissolved materials, the polymer concentrations are corrected for the final x calculations, and x values are extrapolated to the pure sample based on the concentrations of NLO materials in the solvent used. Other details of the experimental setup and calculations used to determine third-order nonlinear susceptibilities were given earlier and described in earlier publications [5,6,9,17-19]. 

Table 3 gives the third-order nonlinear optical properties of bioengineered polymers prepared by enzyme-catalyzed polymerization using horseradish peroxidase in biphasic solvent systems. Water-immiscible solvents used for the biphasic media are benzene, chloroform, toluene, tetrahydrofuran, and isooctane. Third-order nonlinear optical properties of homopolymers and copolymers prepared in biphasic solvent systems are similar to those of polymers prepared in monophasic systems. The values of polyaromatic amines solutions measured at 532 nm are one to two orders higher than the x values observed with polyphenolic compounds. Third-order nonlinear optical properties of copolymers of aromatic amines with... 

This text is intended for graduate students and advanced undergraduates in physical chemistry, biochemistry, bioengineering, polymer and materials science, pharmaceutical chemistry, chemical engineering, and environmental science. 

Worldwide suppliers with bioengineering capabilities are displacing established polymers with cost-effective and higher performing plastics. An explosion of novel polymers has been made by enzymatic control. The use of enzymes for polymerization has drastically altered the landscape of polymer chemistry. Processors can request specific properties for each application as opposed to the usual making do with what is available. The supplier can deliver to the processor desired properties requested. 

LeJeune, K.E., Mesiano, A.J., Bower, S.B., Grismley, J.K., Wild, J.R. and Russell, A.J. (1997) Dramatically stabilized phosphotriesterase-polymers for nerve agent degradation. Biotechnology and Bioengineering, 54(2), 105-114. 

Rzaev ZM, Dinner S, Pi kin E (2007) Functional copolymers of N-isopropylacrylamide for bioengineering applications. Prog Polym Sci 32 534-595... 

Fujii, K., Takata, H., Yanase, M., Terada, Y., Ohdan, K., Takaha, T., Okada, S., and Kuriki,T. 2003. Bioengineering and application of novel glucose polymers. Biocatal. Biotransform., 21,167-172. 

This review work was carried out at Institute of Chemical and Bioengineering, Department of Chemistry and Applied Biosciences, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland. V. Mittal (ed.) Polymer Nanotube Nanocomposites, (1-14) Scrivener Publishing LLC... 

Within the context of proteins as polymer materials the number is still further limited, since only very few are available in sufficient bulk at low extraction cost to consider post-processing them into useful materials. More particularly, the fibrous proteins, such as collagen, certain plant proteins such as gluten, the component of wheat responsible for giving the elastic properties to bread doughs, and proteins produced from soy have been exploited to a limited degree, as we shall see below. In recent years there has also been renewed interest in fibrous silk proteins, from silk worms, spiders (as web-silk) and also from bioengineering routes. 

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