ABSTRACT The volume change that the conducting polymer polypyrrole (PPy) undergoes upon electroch... more ABSTRACT The volume change that the conducting polymer polypyrrole (PPy) undergoes upon electrochemical oxidation and reduction can be used to make microactuators. We have made microactuators based on a PPy/Au bilayer. These actuators have been combined with other micromachined structures to make biomedical microdevices. Using an area of bilayers one can potentially arrest (nerve) fibers. They can also be used to close a micrometer sized cavity with a lid. In addition, we demonstrate a microrobotic arm that may be developed for the manipulation of small particles.
Artificial muscles are the longtime dream of human being to replace the existing engines, motors,... more Artificial muscles are the longtime dream of human being to replace the existing engines, motors, and piezoelectric actuators because of the low-noise, environment-friendly, and energy-saving actua ...
A novel rapid method for bacterial differentiation is explored based on the specific adhesion pat... more A novel rapid method for bacterial differentiation is explored based on the specific adhesion pattern of bacterial strains to tunable polymer surfaces. These preliminary investigations lay the foundation for the development of an electronically tunable array of sensors that will provide patterns of information that feed into computational recognition algorithms to enable swift diffentiation of bacterial species. Different types of counter ions were used to electrochemically fabricate dissimilar polypyrrole (PPy) films with diverse physicochemical properties such as hydrophobicity, thickness and roughness. These were then modulated into three different oxidation states in each case. The dissimilar sets of conducting polymers were exposed to a number of different bacterial strains. Generally, the number of cells of a particular bacterial strain that adhered varied when exposed to dissimilar polymer surfaces, due to the effects of the surface properties of the polymer on bacterial attachment. Similarly, the number of cells that adhered varied with different bacterial strains exposed to the same surface, reflecting the different surface properties of the bacteria. Five different bacterial strains, Deinococcus proteolyticus, Serratia marcescens, Pseudomonas fluorescens, Alcaligenes faecalis and Staphylococcus epidermidis, were seeded onto various PPy surfaces. By analysis of the fluorescent microscope images, the number of bacterial cell adhered to each surface were evaluated. Principal Component Analysis showed that all had their own specific adhesion pattern with respect to the set of applied PPy areas. Hence, these strains could be discriminated by this simple, label-free method. In summary, this provides a proof-of-concept for using specific adhesion properties of bacterial strains in conjunction with tunable polymer arrays and pattern recognition as a method for rapid bacterial identification in situ.
Tailorable polymer gel electrolytes with reactive surfaces from thiol acrylate Michael reaction f... more Tailorable polymer gel electrolytes with reactive surfaces from thiol acrylate Michael reaction for ionic actuator
Salmonella is a Gram-negative foodborne pathogen that can cause gastrointestinal infection that i... more Salmonella is a Gram-negative foodborne pathogen that can cause gastrointestinal infection that is the cause of numerous hospitalisations and deaths all over the world [1]. Conventional approaches for Salmonella detection, based on culture methods, are time-consuming and labour-intensive; this creates considerable need for the development of novel, fast and reliable approaches.Conductive polymers are poly-conjugated systems that present, at the same time, the properties of conductive materials and conventional polymers. Among them, polypyrrole and its derivatives are attracting a lot of attention in several fields including actuators and biosensors [2]. Aptamers are single strand of DNA or RNA that can bind to specific target with high affinity showing in this way great potentiality as alternative to antibodies in affinity based biosensors [3]. In the study presented herein the preparation, via electrodeposition, of a copolymer based on pyrrole and pyrrol 3-carboxylic acid and its application in the development of an aptamer based biosensor is presented. Immobilisation of aptamers, via EDC /NHS chemistry onto the synthetised polymer has been demonstrated via electrochemical techniques. The detection of different concentration of Salmonella was performed by incubation of the prepared electrode with different concentrations of bacteria, followed by impedance measurement in LiClO4 solution. A Nyquist plot of impedance spectra showed increase in the radii of the semicircle, corresponding to an increased charge transfer resistance, and associated to the interaction between the immobilised aptames and the bacteria in the sample. This initial result suggests that it should be possible to create a label-free sensor based on this method. [1] J. Yuan, Z. Tao, Y.Yu, X. Ma, Y. Xia, L. Wang, Z. Wang,Food Control 37 (2014) 188 – 192[2] R. Balint, N. J. Cassidy, S. H. Cartmell, Acta Biomaterialia 10 (2014) 2341–2353[3] S. Tombelli, M. Minunni, M. Mascini, Biosensors and Bioelectronics 20 (2005) 2424–2434
Conducting polymers such as polypyrrole are well-known for their volume changing capacity and the... more Conducting polymers such as polypyrrole are well-known for their volume changing capacity and their use as actuating material. Actuators based on polypyrrole have been demonstrated in dimensions ranging from centimetres down to micrometres as well as in linear strain and bending beam actuation modes. The polypyrrole (micro-)actuators can be operated in salt solutions including cell culture media and blood. In addition, polypyrrole is known to be biocompatible making them a good choice for applications within cell biology and medicine. Applications of polypyrrole actuators within micromechanical devices, such as microrobotics and valves, will be presented. Opportunities and devices for the medical device industry, especially vascular surgery will be shown. This includes a rotating PCTA balloon system, a steerable guide wire, and an implantable drug delivery system. In addition, novel mechanostimulation chips for cell biology will be introduced. Using these devices, we can stretch cells and show the cellular response to this mechanical stimulation. Since the dawn of eukaryotic cells many parallel molecular mechanisms that respond to mechanical stimuli have evolved. This technology allows us to begin the investigation of these mechanisms on a single cell level.
Conducting polymers like polypyrrole (PPy) are suitable materials for actuators. PPy undergoes a ... more Conducting polymers like polypyrrole (PPy) are suitable materials for actuators. PPy undergoes a volume change, driven by redox processes accompanied by ion movement. This volume change is reversib ...
A synthetic chemical strategy aimed at altering the cross-linking density of the electropolymeriz... more A synthetic chemical strategy aimed at altering the cross-linking density of the electropolymerized conjugated polymer polypyrrole has been devised and implemented. The actuation performance of the synthesized material was assessed using a new type of apparatus capable of ...
ABSTRACT The volume change that the conducting polymer polypyrrole (PPy) undergoes upon electroch... more ABSTRACT The volume change that the conducting polymer polypyrrole (PPy) undergoes upon electrochemical oxidation and reduction can be used to make microactuators. We have made microactuators based on a PPy/Au bilayer. These actuators have been combined with other micromachined structures to make biomedical microdevices. Using an area of bilayers one can potentially arrest (nerve) fibers. They can also be used to close a micrometer sized cavity with a lid. In addition, we demonstrate a microrobotic arm that may be developed for the manipulation of small particles.
Artificial muscles are the longtime dream of human being to replace the existing engines, motors,... more Artificial muscles are the longtime dream of human being to replace the existing engines, motors, and piezoelectric actuators because of the low-noise, environment-friendly, and energy-saving actua ...
A novel rapid method for bacterial differentiation is explored based on the specific adhesion pat... more A novel rapid method for bacterial differentiation is explored based on the specific adhesion pattern of bacterial strains to tunable polymer surfaces. These preliminary investigations lay the foundation for the development of an electronically tunable array of sensors that will provide patterns of information that feed into computational recognition algorithms to enable swift diffentiation of bacterial species. Different types of counter ions were used to electrochemically fabricate dissimilar polypyrrole (PPy) films with diverse physicochemical properties such as hydrophobicity, thickness and roughness. These were then modulated into three different oxidation states in each case. The dissimilar sets of conducting polymers were exposed to a number of different bacterial strains. Generally, the number of cells of a particular bacterial strain that adhered varied when exposed to dissimilar polymer surfaces, due to the effects of the surface properties of the polymer on bacterial attachment. Similarly, the number of cells that adhered varied with different bacterial strains exposed to the same surface, reflecting the different surface properties of the bacteria. Five different bacterial strains, Deinococcus proteolyticus, Serratia marcescens, Pseudomonas fluorescens, Alcaligenes faecalis and Staphylococcus epidermidis, were seeded onto various PPy surfaces. By analysis of the fluorescent microscope images, the number of bacterial cell adhered to each surface were evaluated. Principal Component Analysis showed that all had their own specific adhesion pattern with respect to the set of applied PPy areas. Hence, these strains could be discriminated by this simple, label-free method. In summary, this provides a proof-of-concept for using specific adhesion properties of bacterial strains in conjunction with tunable polymer arrays and pattern recognition as a method for rapid bacterial identification in situ.
Tailorable polymer gel electrolytes with reactive surfaces from thiol acrylate Michael reaction f... more Tailorable polymer gel electrolytes with reactive surfaces from thiol acrylate Michael reaction for ionic actuator
Salmonella is a Gram-negative foodborne pathogen that can cause gastrointestinal infection that i... more Salmonella is a Gram-negative foodborne pathogen that can cause gastrointestinal infection that is the cause of numerous hospitalisations and deaths all over the world [1]. Conventional approaches for Salmonella detection, based on culture methods, are time-consuming and labour-intensive; this creates considerable need for the development of novel, fast and reliable approaches.Conductive polymers are poly-conjugated systems that present, at the same time, the properties of conductive materials and conventional polymers. Among them, polypyrrole and its derivatives are attracting a lot of attention in several fields including actuators and biosensors [2]. Aptamers are single strand of DNA or RNA that can bind to specific target with high affinity showing in this way great potentiality as alternative to antibodies in affinity based biosensors [3]. In the study presented herein the preparation, via electrodeposition, of a copolymer based on pyrrole and pyrrol 3-carboxylic acid and its application in the development of an aptamer based biosensor is presented. Immobilisation of aptamers, via EDC /NHS chemistry onto the synthetised polymer has been demonstrated via electrochemical techniques. The detection of different concentration of Salmonella was performed by incubation of the prepared electrode with different concentrations of bacteria, followed by impedance measurement in LiClO4 solution. A Nyquist plot of impedance spectra showed increase in the radii of the semicircle, corresponding to an increased charge transfer resistance, and associated to the interaction between the immobilised aptames and the bacteria in the sample. This initial result suggests that it should be possible to create a label-free sensor based on this method. [1] J. Yuan, Z. Tao, Y.Yu, X. Ma, Y. Xia, L. Wang, Z. Wang,Food Control 37 (2014) 188 – 192[2] R. Balint, N. J. Cassidy, S. H. Cartmell, Acta Biomaterialia 10 (2014) 2341–2353[3] S. Tombelli, M. Minunni, M. Mascini, Biosensors and Bioelectronics 20 (2005) 2424–2434
Conducting polymers such as polypyrrole are well-known for their volume changing capacity and the... more Conducting polymers such as polypyrrole are well-known for their volume changing capacity and their use as actuating material. Actuators based on polypyrrole have been demonstrated in dimensions ranging from centimetres down to micrometres as well as in linear strain and bending beam actuation modes. The polypyrrole (micro-)actuators can be operated in salt solutions including cell culture media and blood. In addition, polypyrrole is known to be biocompatible making them a good choice for applications within cell biology and medicine. Applications of polypyrrole actuators within micromechanical devices, such as microrobotics and valves, will be presented. Opportunities and devices for the medical device industry, especially vascular surgery will be shown. This includes a rotating PCTA balloon system, a steerable guide wire, and an implantable drug delivery system. In addition, novel mechanostimulation chips for cell biology will be introduced. Using these devices, we can stretch cells and show the cellular response to this mechanical stimulation. Since the dawn of eukaryotic cells many parallel molecular mechanisms that respond to mechanical stimuli have evolved. This technology allows us to begin the investigation of these mechanisms on a single cell level.
Conducting polymers like polypyrrole (PPy) are suitable materials for actuators. PPy undergoes a ... more Conducting polymers like polypyrrole (PPy) are suitable materials for actuators. PPy undergoes a volume change, driven by redox processes accompanied by ion movement. This volume change is reversib ...
A synthetic chemical strategy aimed at altering the cross-linking density of the electropolymeriz... more A synthetic chemical strategy aimed at altering the cross-linking density of the electropolymerized conjugated polymer polypyrrole has been devised and implemented. The actuation performance of the synthesized material was assessed using a new type of apparatus capable of ...
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Papers by Edwin Jager