Wound healing technologies are growing rapidly, and advanced dressings are continuing to accelerate healing rates, reduce infection, and significantly improve patient comfort. Each year new dressings are introduced; however, there still exists a need for strongly adhering bandage dressings that will reduce the risk of skin trauma associated with repeated use and skin frailties. This requirement is most important to very young and advancing age patients - where minimizing skin trauma is paramount. This project proposes the development of a new biocompatible polymer - nanomaterial adhesive system which is capable of being switched from a strongly adhering contact (on) state to a low-adhering release (off) state, when activated by visible light. These releasable adhesives would exhibit a significant reduction in peel strength on activation, which results in reduced localized trauma upon removal when compared to conventional dressings.
The specific aims of the project include the (1) design and synthesis of new biocompatible acrylic adhesives containing fullerene active compositions; (2) addition of nanomaterials into polymeric systems and optimize additive concentration; (3) radiation crosslinking and monitoring of molecular events - optimize radiation kinetics and light power; (4) characterization of new adhesives - assess the influence of molar mass increase in the mechanical performance as a function of temperature; (5) determination of the moisture vapor transmission rate of prototypes, using the upright-cup test method; and (6) initial screening to estimate skin irritation and phototoxicity of prototype adhesives using an artificial skin model. Addition of fullerene sensitizers and exposure to visible light induces morphology changes in the polymer adhesive due to in-situ generated chemical species, which initiate crosslinking reactions. During this effort, we will also test for the first time the newly discovered metallic nitride fullerene (MNF) species as cross-linking polymer additives. The rate of reactions in this study will be controlled (1) by the percent of additive and (2) by visible light exposure time and lamp power. Adhesive mechanical properties will be evaluated by standard peel and shear tests. Glass transitions, storage and loss modulus will be determined by DSC and DMA analysis. ? ? ?
| McCluskey, D Michelle; Smith, Tiffany N; Madasu, Praveen K et al. (2009) Evidence for singlet-oxygen generation and biocidal activity in photoresponsive metallic nitride fullerene-polymer adhesive films. ACS Appl Mater Interfaces 1:882-7 |
| Stevenson, Steven; Mackey, Mary A; Pickens, Jane E et al. (2009) Selective complexation and reactivity of metallic nitride and oxometallic fullerenes with Lewis acids and use as an effective purification method. Inorg Chem 48:11685-90 |
| Stevenson, Steven; Ling, Yan; Coumbe, Curtis E et al. (2009) Preferential encapsulation and stability of La(3)N cluster in 80 atom cages: experimental synthesis and computational investigation of La(3)N@C(79)N. J Am Chem Soc 131:17780-2 |
| Stevenson, Steven; Thompson, M Corey; Coumbe, H Louie et al. (2007) Chemically adjusting plasma temperature, energy, and reactivity (CAPTEAR) method using NOx and combustion for selective synthesis of Sc3N@C80 metallic nitride fullerenes. J Am Chem Soc 129:16257-62 |
