Biomedical applications electrochemical synthesis

We ve tried to include all substantial developments and advances in this new edition. Significant developments in biomedical applications, microelectromechani-cal systems, and electronic textiles have been included, as has synthesis of nano-structured CEPs. New methods for characterizing CEPs, such as electrochemical Raman and electron spin resonance spectroscopy, have also been described. Significant progress is also detailed in techniques for processing CEPs and the fabrication of devices. 

CPs can be fabricated through a variety of routes which are classified as either predominantly electrochemical or chemical. While electrochemical synthesis has been more widely used for preparing nanoscale CP thin films for biomedical applications, chemical polymerization can produce large quantities of CP thick films or colloidal dispersions at low cost. Despite these advantages, chemical techniques have found relatively little application in biomedical applications. The advantages and disadvantages of electrodeposition and chemical synthesis are summarized in Table 18.2. 

There are a number of excellent membrane-related textbooks and reference books available. However, most of these books treat only certain aspects of membrane science and technology in depth while other features related to membranes are only briefly mentioned or not covered at all. The fundamentals of membrane functions and membrane processes are described in detail in a number of publications in the membrane-related literature. The application of membranes, however, is much less comprehensively covered in such books. A large number of interesting membrane applications in the food and drug industry, electrochemical synthesis or biomedical treatment, and energy conversion are published in journals specific for certain industries, which are beyond the interest of many membrane scientists. Therefore, as mentioned earlier, it is difficult to obtain a reasonably complete overview of the very large and heterogeneous field... 

With biomedical applications in mind, this chapter reviews the important elements of the synthesis and processing of conducting polymers as well as their fabrication into devices. The key properties that make the use of ICPs in biomedical applications an attractive proposition are their electronic and electrochemical switching properties. These important features will be discussed with specific emphasis upon their use as sensors or as actuators from the biomolecular to the biomechanical levels. 

Floroian, L., Florescu, M., Sima, F., Popescu-Pelin, G., Ristoscu, C., Mihailescu, I.N., 2012. Synthesis of biomaterial thin films by pulsed laser technologies electrochemical evaluation of bioactive glass-based nanocomposite coatings for biomedical applications. Mater. Sci. Eng. C 32, 1152-1157. 

PPy is a conductive polymer with several biomedical applications owing to its good biocompatibility and the ability of cells to attach, differentiate and proliferate on its surface [148,149]. In one study, the attachment, proliferation and differentiation of rat MSCs on PPy surfaces was shown to be comparable to those of regular tissue culture plastic surfaces [150]. The synthesis of PPy involves either electrochemical or chemical polymerization, with the admicellar polymerization technique enabling the uniform deposition of thin PPy films from a few to 100 nm thick [151]. Moreover, the attachment of cells to the PPy surface can be improved, for example, via the adsorption of fibronectin or the incorporation of Arg-Gly-Asp (RGD)-containing peptides [152]. Immobilization of the glycosaminoglycans heparin and hyaluronic acid on PPy surfaces was also shown to maintain bone marrow-derived MSC cultures and to induce differentiation successfully into mature osteoblasts [153]. 

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