Self-assembled anchor layers/polysaccharide coatings on titanium surfaces: a study of functionalization and stability

• Ognen Pop-Georgievski,
• Dana Kubies,
• Josef Zemek,
• Neda Neykova,
• Roman Demianchuk,
• Eliška Mázl Chánová,
• Miroslav Šlouf,
• Milan Houska and
• František Rypáček

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 617–631, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.63

• and a thin, alginate hydrogel could be used in bone tissue engineering as a scaffold material that provides biologically active molecules. The main objective of this contribution is to characterize the activation and the functionalization of titanium surfaces by the covalent immobilization of

• a long-term immersion. Based on the stability observations, the alginate monolayers bound to the neridronate or PDA anchor layers can be potentially used for the immobilization of a thin alginate hydrogel carrier of bioactive compounds (such as calcium phosphates or other biologically active

• siloxane network led to a higher deterioration tendency of the ALG/APTES double layer. The presented surface modification strategy of titanium can be an effective path for the formation of ALG-based hydrogel coatings enriched with bioactive compounds for bone tissue engineering applications. Experimental

Multifunctional layered magnetic composites

• Maria Siglreitmeier,
• Baohu Wu,
• Tina Kollmann,
• Martin Neubauer,
• Gergely Nagy,
• Dietmar Schwahn,
• Vitaliy Pipich,
• Damien Faivre,
• Dirk Zahn,
• Andreas Fery and
• Helmut Cölfen

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 134–148, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.13

• material is based on an already established three step protocol [34]. In the first step, the gelatin hydrogel is infiltrated into the demineralized nacre matrix through a vacuum infiltration process [35], in the second step this chitin–gelatin composite is introduced into a solution of ferrous (FeCl2 0.1 M

• ) and ferric ions (FeCl3 0.2 M) in a molar ratio of 1:2. After complete diffusion of the ions inside the hydrogel template magnetite is precipitated in the third step by introducing the template in a base (NaOH 0.1 M). The magnetite nanoparticles are synthesized through a so-called co-precipitation

• magnetite nanoparticles, which act as additional crosslinkers in the gelatin hydrogel. This effect was discovered before for the studies of magnetic hydrogels [34] and shows similar values for the swelling degree. We can conclude that the gelatin hydrogel as well as the magnetic hydrogel do not change their

Biopolymer colloids for controlling and templating inorganic synthesis

• Laura C. Preiss,
• Katharina Landfester and
• Rafael Muñoz-Espí

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 2129–2138, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.222

• supports (e.g., metallization or mineralization of DNA) or by using particle systems. Hydrogel approaches can also be confined to the spaces of particles. Clearly, synthetic polymers are often a more economic and versatile alternative, but biopolymers can be especially interesting in those applications in

Effect of silver nanoparticles on human mesenchymal stem cell differentiation

• Christina Sengstock,
• Jörg Diendorf,
• Matthias Epple,
• Thomas A. Schildhauer and
• Manfred Köller

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 2058–2069, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.214

• nanomaterials have been used in numerous devices and products, such as silver sulfadiazine in the treatment of burns to reduce skin infections. Furthermore, silver has been used to coat a variety of different surfaces, such as catheters [4][5][6][7], or it has been incorporated into a hydrogel network for wound

Influence of the PDMS substrate stiffness on the adhesion of Acanthamoeba castellanii

• Sören B. Gutekunst,
• Carsten Grabosch,
• Alexander Kovalev,
• Stanislav N. Gorb and
• Christine Selhuber-Unkel

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 1393–1398, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.152

• the adhesion of A. castellanii to hydrogel materials used in contact lenses [39]. We determined a very strong dependence of A. castellanii adhesion on the water content of contact lens materials, i.e., a strong increase in adhesion with increasing water content. In the study presented here, the PDMS

Controlling mechanical properties of bio-inspired hydrogels by modulating nano-scale, inter-polymeric junctions

• Seonki Hong,
• Hyukjin Lee and
• Haeshin Lee

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 887–894, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.101

• quinone tanning. The hydrogels produced by catecholamine crosslinking using 6Arm-PEG-NH-catechol exhibited enhanced mechanical properties and rapid gelation compared to the hydrogel prepared by PEGs that can only use catechol-catechol crosslinking. This study demonstrates that the chemical configuration

• the effect of the amine group in PEG gelation, we prepared 6Arm-PEG-NH-catechol and 6Arm-PEG-catechol (control). Both were dissolved in PBS pH 8.0 with a final concentration of 3% (w/v). It is expected that the hydrogel formed by amine-catechol involved tanning (6Arm-PEG-NH-catechol) may exhibit

• completed within 10 min. The elastic modulus of the hydrogel made of 6Arm-PEG-NH-catechol was about 1,000 Pa, but the G’ of the hydrogel prepared by 6Arm-PEG-catechol was low, as expected (about 500 Pa). The two-times increase in the elastic modulus indicates that amine-catechol quinone tanning is more

Biocalcite, a multifunctional inorganic polymer: Building block for calcareous sponge spicules and bioseed for the synthesis of calcium phosphate-based bone

• Xiaohong Wang,
• Heinz C. Schröder and
• Werner E. G. Müller

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 610–621, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.72

• cells retain their capacity to synthesize HA crystallites. Furthermore, the mechanical properties, including surface roughness and hardness, of the hydrogel were determined. If silica is included in the hydrogel matrix, the encapsulated SaOS-2 cells were found to increasingly express the gene encoding

• liberation of both orthophosphate (pink filled triangles) and Ca2+, both components are required for the synthesis of HA [(Ca5(PO4)3(OH)]. Partially taken from [58] with permission. Computer-aided rapid prototyping bioprinting. (A-a) A sketch outlining the computer-guided extrusion of Na alginate hydrogel

Growth behaviour and mechanical properties of PLL/HA multilayer films studied by AFM

• Cagri Üzüm,
• Johannes Hellwig,
• Narayanan Madaboosi,
• Dmitry Volodkin and
• Regine von Klitzing

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2012, 3, 778–788, doi:10.3762/bjnano.3.87

• , back in 1993 [9]. Further measurements include different strains of E. coli with a colloidal probe [10], elastic modulus of human platelet cells [11], human bone cell or skeletal muscle cells [12], breast cancer cells [13][14], hydrogel films [15][16][17], or nanoribbons [18], as well as single

• hydrogel particles [19][20][21][22]. Recent advances in the area have been summarized by Picart and co-workers [23][24]. Several studies on the bio-applicability of polymer-based films showed that if cells are deposited on a surface with an elasticity gradient, they move from the softer region to a

Determination of object position, vortex shedding frequency and flow velocity using artificial lateral line canals

• Adrian Klein and
• Horst Bleckmann

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2011, 2, 276–283, doi:10.3762/bjnano.2.32

• (cf. Equation 2). According to a recent study an artificial cupula made out of hydrogel can improve the performance of artificial sensory hairs (ANs) by about two orders of magnitude. Minimal thresholds were as low as 2.5 μm/s [33]. Thus, one should be able to increase further the sensitivity of ALLCs