| AVS 64th International Symposium & Exhibition | |
| Biomaterial Interfaces Division | Wednesday Sessions |
| Session BI+NS-WeM |
| Session: | Biomaterials and Nanomaterials Fabrication & In Honor of Dave Castner's 65th Birthday: Multitechnique Bio-Surface Characterization I |
| Presenter: | Norma Alcantar, University of South Florida |
| Authors: | N. Alcantar, University of South Florida R. Toomey, University of South Florida Z. Veisi, University of South Florida A. Cardenas-Valencia, SRI International M. Cardenas, SRI International R. Falahat, Moffitt Cancer Center T. Peng, University of South Florida F. Guo, University of South Florida |
| Correspondent: | Click to Email |
In the last decade, numerous natural materials have been investigated as platforms in functionalized surfaces. In our case, we have studied the structure and properties of two natural materials, chitosan from crustaceous shells and cactus mucilage from cactus plants. Those two natural materials have been used as building blocks in drug delivery systems, and as flocculants or adsorbent materials to remove contaminants from water. In the drug delivery systems, the natural material is used as surface membranes capable to respond to external stimuli. Our team has discovered that chitosan has a specific bond with the MUC1 enzyme found in epithelial-type cancers, which can enhance its specificity towards cancer cells when used in drug delivery systems. The results of our research have also shown that depending on the biophysical conditions surrounding the natural materials, their response to hydrophilic and hydrophobic interactions to separate organic and inorganic contaminants are controlled by their structure, which can then be finely tuned to enhance their performance. The use of natural materials for functional applications is an area of study that could lead to discoveries in microfluidic devices, health applications, cosmetics, coatings and paintings, and water purification systems.