AVS 50th International Symposium
    Homeland Security Topical Conference Thursday Sessions
       Session HS-ThM

Paper HS-ThM10
Novel Surface-Segregating Materials for Chem-Bio Applications

Thursday, November 6, 2003, 11:20 am, Room 309

Session: Detection of Biological Agents and Self-Cleaning of Contaminated Surfaces
Presenter: J.A. Orlicki, Army Research Laboratory, AMSRL-WM-MA
Authors: J.A. Orlicki, Army Research Laboratory, AMSRL-WM-MA
M.S. Bratcher, Army Research Laboratory, AMSRL-WM-MA
R.E. Jensen, Army Research Laboratory, AMSRL-WM-MA
C.A. Winston, Army Research Laboratory, AMSRL-WM-MA
S.H. McKnight, Army Research Laboratory, AMSRL-WM-MA
Correspondent: Click to Email
Macromolecular surfactants based upon hyperbranched polymer scaffolds have been employed to deliver functional groups to the surface of a substrate. Careful selection of end group chemistry allows the control of thermodynamic phase segregation, leading to an increased loading of additive at a substrate surface relative to the bulk concentration. The high number of end groups of a hyperbranched polymer permits the covalent attachment of additional moieties for added functionality (e.g. solubility control, reactive groups, ligand binding sites). Employing these molecules as additive to bulk polymer systems will provide a method to impart chemical or biological resistance upon delicate materials (electronics packaging, clothing) at minimal cost. We have developed polymers capable of chelating metal centers (polyoxometalates), and have shown their ability to transport the metals to a substrate surface. Contact angle and XPS analysis indicated the segregation of metals to the surface only when interacting with the macromolecular surfactant. These results will be discussed, along with the accompanying synthetic techniques to spur the development of novel active groups for surface functionalization.