AVS 64th International Symposium & Exhibition
    Biomaterial Interfaces Division Tuesday Sessions
       Session BI+AS+MI+SA-TuA

Paper BI+AS+MI+SA-TuA4
Designing Thermo-responsive Nanocomposites that Provides Multiple Defense Mechanisms against Fouling

Tuesday, October 31, 2017, 3:20 pm, Room 12

Session: Bio from 2D to 3D: Challenges in Fabrication and Characterization & Flash Presentations
Presenter: Ya Liu, University of Pittsburgh
Authors: Y. Liu, University of Pittsburgh
C. Zhang, Harvard University
S. Kolle, Harvard University
J. Aizenberg, Harvard University
A.C. Balazs, University of Pittsburgh
Correspondent: Click to Email
We use computational modeling to design synthetic gel-based composite coatings that provide multiple defense mechanism against the fouling of the underlying substrate. The system encompasses rigid posts embedded in a lower critical solution temperature (LCST) thermo-responsive gel, which swells at lower temperatures and collapses at higher temperatures. By developing new dissipative particle dynamics (DPD) simulationd that capture the cell-surface interactions , we exam the biofilm growth and structure development on the substrates and pinpoint the parameter space that yields the optimal antifouling behavior for this system. The advantage of our approach relies on physical mechanisms and doesn’t have unwanted environmental consequences.