Controlled architecture for improved macromolecular memory within polymer networks.
This brief review analyzes recent developments in the field of living/controlled polymerization and the potential of this technique for creating imprinted polymers with highly structured architecture with macromolecular memory. As a result, it is possible to engineer polymers at the molecular level with increased homogeneity relating to enhanced template binding and transport. Only recently has living/controlled polymerization been exploited to decrease heterogeneity and substantially improve the efficiency of the imprinting process for both highly and weakly crosslinked imprinted polymers. Living polymerization can be utilized to create imprinted networks that are vastly more efficient than similar polymers produced using conventional free radical polymerization, and these improvements increase the role that macromolecular memory can play in the design and engineering of new drug delivery and sensing platforms.
Biomimetic & Biohybrid Materials, Biomedical Devices, & Drug Delivery Laboratories, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Rowan University, Glassboro, NJ 08028, USA.
Stephen A
SA
DiPasquale
Biomimetic & Biohybrid Materials, Biomedical Devices, & Drug Delivery Laboratories, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Rowan University, Glassboro, NJ 08028, USA. Electronic address: byrnem@rowan.edu.
Mark E
ME
Byrne
D000818:Animals; D016503:Drug Delivery Systems; D006801:Humans; D046911:Macromolecular Substances / Q000737:chemistry*; D054802:Molecular Imprinting / Q000379:methods*; D058105:Polymerization; D011108:Polymers / Q000737:chemistry*
D046911:Macromolecular Substances; D011108:Polymers