Home > Press > Polymer puts new medical solutions within reach
 |
| The liquid crystalline hydrogel in a dry state. CREDIT: Patrick Mather |
Abstract:
Researchers, particularly those in the medical field, have been searching for a way to combine the properties of liquid crystallinity with those of hydrogels.
Polymer puts new medical solutions within reach
Syracuse, NY | Posted on January 12th, 2016Liquid crystals are characterized as having the fluidity of liquid but some of the order of a crystal so they can be oriented to have structure. They are not water-loving, in that they will dissolve in water, making them less than ideal candidates for use inside the body.
Hydrogels, however, are water-loving but they lack the order to orient them into specific shapes.
Combining the properties of liquid crystals and hydrogels in just the right proportions creates the potential for new materials that have the same mechanical properties as soft tissues in the body. A material that is water-loving and has structure opens up the door the possibility for artificial blood vessels that are mechanically stealth so they wouldn't be viewed as a foreign body.
Professor Pat Mather has developed a process that can create this type of a polymer.
The paper "A hydrogel-forming liquid crystalline elastomer exhibiting soft shape memory" authored by Mather and graduate student Amir Torbati G'14, now a post-doc at UC Denver, was featured on the cover the Journal of Polymer Science B: Polymer Physics.
"It is a balancing act of not having too many water-loving groups in the polymer and balancing that with other chemicals in the polymer that promote structure." said Mather.
Whatever the hydrogels do to make the liquid crystals water-loving destroys the order of crystallinity, so historically creating a material like this has been a challenge but Mather's process opens to the door to new medical applications that were previously out of reach.
####
For more information, please click here
Contacts:
Ariel Duchene
315-443-2546
Issuers of news releases, not 7th Wave, Inc. or Nanotechnology Now, are solely responsible for the accuracy of the content.
Bookmark:
| Related Links |
To see the full article visit:
| Related News Press |
News and information
Simulating magnetization in a Heisenberg quantum spin chain April 5th, 2024
NRL charters Navy’s quantum inertial navigation path to reduce drift April 5th, 2024
Discovery points path to flash-like memory for storing qubits: Rice find could hasten development of nonvolatile quantum memory April 5th, 2024
Good as gold - improving infectious disease testing with gold nanoparticles April 5th, 2024
Display technology/LEDs/SS Lighting/OLEDs
Utilizing palladium for addressing contact issues of buried oxide thin film transistors April 5th, 2024
Light guide plate based on perovskite nanocomposites November 3rd, 2023
Simple ballpoint pen can write custom LEDs August 11th, 2023
Hydrogels
Shrinking hydrogels enlarge nanofabrication options: Researchers from Pittsburgh and Hong Kong print intricate, 2D and 3D patterns December 29th, 2022
The deformation of the hydrogel is used to measure the negative pressure of water April 22nd, 2022
Nanocellulose decorated with proteins is suitable for 3D cell culturing September 24th, 2021
Nanomedicine
New micromaterial releases nanoparticles that selectively destroy cancer cells April 5th, 2024
Good as gold - improving infectious disease testing with gold nanoparticles April 5th, 2024
Researchers develop artificial building blocks of life March 8th, 2024
Discoveries
Chemical reactions can scramble quantum information as well as black holes April 5th, 2024
New micromaterial releases nanoparticles that selectively destroy cancer cells April 5th, 2024
Utilizing palladium for addressing contact issues of buried oxide thin film transistors April 5th, 2024
Announcements
NRL charters Navy’s quantum inertial navigation path to reduce drift April 5th, 2024
Discovery points path to flash-like memory for storing qubits: Rice find could hasten development of nonvolatile quantum memory April 5th, 2024
Interviews/Book Reviews/Essays/Reports/Podcasts/Journals/White papers/Posters
Simulating magnetization in a Heisenberg quantum spin chain April 5th, 2024
Discovery points path to flash-like memory for storing qubits: Rice find could hasten development of nonvolatile quantum memory April 5th, 2024
 |
||
 |
||
| The latest news from around the world, FREE | ||
 |
||
|
|
||
| Premium Products | ||
 |
||
|
Only the news you want to read!
Learn More |
||
 |
||
|
Full-service, expert consulting
Learn More |
||
|
|
||