Biointerface Engineering and Analysis
Overview | Lab | News | Team
The Biointerface Engineering group focuses on the use of synthetic and biological components to create materials and surfaces with new properties. The end use may be for biomedical applications such as implantable devices or cell culture, but could just as easily be applied in the sensing of environmental contaminants or the modification of materials used in the food industry.
Key Capabilities
The group has a portfolio of polymeric surface modification strategies at its disposal. These include thin film deposition techniques of plasma polymerisation, polymer grafting, layer-by-layer processes using polyelectrolytes and self assembly enabling us to tailor a surface modification strategy for virtually any material.
Coupled with our extensive experience in developing immobilisation strategies for biomolecules and systems that prevent protein and cell attachment, we are well positioned to provide industrial and research based solutions. Recent applications include tissue engineering, microfluidic devices, contact lenses and bio arrays.
Complementing our work in surface modification, the group has access to a range of facilities for the physical, chemical and biological analysis of materials and surfaces. These include biochemical assay development, AFM, fluorescence microscopy and Quartz Crystal Microbalance (QCM). We also have extensive experience and expertise in UHV surface analysis techniques including XPS, ToF-SIMS and surface-MALDI-MS.
Current Activities
Design and Fabrication of Nano-Structured Surfaces for the Control of Bacterial Interactions
Biofilm formation costs billions of dollars every year across a wide range of industries. This project explores methods for preventing biofilm formation by controlling the topography and chemistry of materials.
Funding
- AMCRC
Collaborators
- Elena Ivanova (FLSS)
- Mohan Jacob (JCU)
Synthetic Materials for Molecular Recognition: Self Assembling Glycopolymers and Peptides:
It is not only proteins but saccharides that play an important role in cellular interaction and function. This project is developing stable synthetic polymer architectures with covalently-linked saccharide and oligopeptide moieties to explore their self assembly and cellular recognition features as coatings for biomedical applications.
Funding
- CSIRO
Collaborators
- CSIRO Health and Molecular Technologies
