Media.Player

Generation of Mesoporous Materials Using Binary Surfactant Systems

Technology Benefits

Allowsfor precise physiochemical targeting of specific cell and tissue typesRepresentsa simple and cost-effective approach to creating particlesMethodof treatment for a variety of disorders, including cancer and bacterial andviral infections Applicationsin agriculture, aircraft and aerospace, health care, medical devices, microelectronics,oil and gas, and pharmaceuticals

Detailed Technology Description

Mesoporousmaterials utilizing binary surfactant systems, where single phase mixtures canbe used to finely tune mesopore size, while two-phase separation of thesurfactants can be used to generate biphasic mesoporous structures.

*Abstract

Thistechnology relates to methods of producing biphase, triphasic and multiphasemesoporous stuctures with finely tuned mesopore size and protocells which are producedtherefrom. The resulting mesoporous nanostructures may be used to createprotocells having unique cargo loading and release characteristics.

*Background

Nanoparticle (NP)/cell interactions, particularlyin complex in vivo microenvironments, are regulated by an intricatespatiotemporal interplay of numerous biological and NP characteristics.Multiple NP physicochemical properties including, at the most basic level,material composition, size, shape, surface charge, and surface chemistry, haveall been reported to play significant roles. However, the relative importanceof these diverse NP physicochemical properties in regulating interactions withvarious biological systems remains incompletely understood. As such, achievingor avoiding cell-type specific interactions in vivo requires an improvedunderstanding of the relative roles of these diverse NP properties, as well anability to exert a high level of control over these properties during NPsynthesis.Generation of mesopores is usually accomplished byutilizing self-assembly of individual surfactants or block co-polymers. Tomodify the pore size from the natural mesophase, swelling agents such astri-methyl benzene (TMB) are commonly employed. However, performance ofswelling agents is often not reproducible, especially in the case ofevaporation-driven assembly of thin-films and particles.Thus, the need exists for nanoparticles and relatedsyntheses which reflect simple and effective control over pore size andmorphology. Further, an ability to simultaneously load NP's with a variety ofdiagnostic and/or therapeutic agents and to more effectively exploit NP shapeand pore size would facilitate the identification and treatment of a numerousdisorders, including cancers and bacterial and viral infections.

Country/Region

USA