Advanced nanostructured materials for enhancing bioactivity
Date
2024
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Abstract
Health hazards such as pathogenic infection, communicable diseases, and bone damage and injuries cause enormous human suffering and pain worldwide. Biomaterials such as orthopedic implants and biosensors are crucial tools to remedy these complications. Development of novel biomaterials and modifying existing materials can help enhance medical device efficacy. One of the key aspects of improving biomaterials is the utilization of nanotechnology. Nanoscale surface features can improve the interaction between materials and biological agents, thus improving their bioactivity. In this dissertation research, two different biomaterials were used for two distinct applications. Firstly, titanium, a common material for orthopedic implants, was used. Ti is a popular implant material because of its superior corrosion resistance, lightweight, and excellent biocompatibility. However, 10% of Ti implants fail each year due to pathogenic bacterial infection and poor osseointegration resulting in revision surgeries and immense suffering of the patients. Nanostructured surface modification approaches can potentially reduce the failure rate of Ti implants. In this study, TiO2 nanotube arrays (NT) were fabricated followed by zinc (Zn) and strontium (Sr) doping. These elements provide important signals to mesenchymal stem cells to differentiate into osteoblasts which helps in bone healing. Zn also reduces bacterial adhesion to the implant surface. Results showed that the modified surfaces could significantly reduce bacterial adhesion and improved osseointegration properties of the mesenchymal stem cells. Secondly, a polydiacetylene (PDA)-based electrospun nanofiber biosensor was prepared that is flexible in nature for monitoring bacterial or viral infection. The nanofiber biosensor could selectively detect Gram-negative bacteria via a vivid blue-to-red color transition. Since the color transition is visible to the naked eye, the biosensor offers immense potential to be used as a screening device for Gram-negative bacterial infection in various industries such as food packaging, medical, intelligence, and national security. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the PDA biosensing platform was utilized to detect the spike (S) protein of the SARS-CoV-2. For this, the surface chemistry of the PDA fibers was modified, and a receptor protein was conjugated at the end of the PDA polymer chain. When the modified PDA fibers were incubated with the S protein, the blue-to-red color transition happened, thus sensing the presence of S protein in the environment. This result indicated that PDA nanofiber biosensor is a flexible sensing platform for effectively detecting both bacteria and viruses. The two biomaterials investigated in this research indicated that the use of nanotechnology can help in enhancing their bioactivity.
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Embargo expires: 05/20/2025.
Subject
biosensor
polydiacetylene
titanium implant
nanotechnology
antibacterial
surface modification