Polymers, grafted bioactivity

In designing nanofiber mat constructs for specific applications, the engineering as well as surface-chemistry requirements cannot sometimes be satisfied by a single material. For instance, an application may need good nanofibers of magnetic susceptibility as well as enzyme activity via surface-grafted bioactive moieties. In such instances composite mats made of either layered or mixed nanofibers of two or more different polymers might be employed. 

After an extensive review of possible new materials, the team found a material that had a surface-to-volume ratio closer to 1000 M /M and a void volume up to 98%. A hydrophilic coating could be grafted to its surface to provide a reservoir capacity to release nutrients in a controlled manner. Lastly, the hydrophilic coating could be copolymerized with certain bioactive polymers and ligands that improve cell adhesion dramatically. 

Wang [3] prepared the amphiphilic biocompatible cyclodextrin graft polymer, poly(ethylene glycol-g-cyclodextrin), (III), containing modified cyclodextrin which was used as a bioactive drug delivery agent. 

PROPERTIES OF SPECIAL INTEREST Natural resources basic polysaccharides nontoxic biodegradability bioactivity biosynthesis interesting derivatives (chitosan) toughness graft copolymerization chelating ability for transition metal cations immobilizes enzymes by chemical linking or adsorption chiral polymer. 

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