Mai, A.Q., Bánsági, T., Taylor, A.F. orcid.org/0000-0003-0071-8306 et al. (1 more author) (2021) Reaction-diffusion hydrogels from urease enzyme particles for patterned coatings. Communications Chemistry, 4 (1). 101. ISSN 2399-3669
Abstract
The reaction and diffusion of small molecules is used to initiate the formation of protective polymeric layers, or biofilms, that attach cells to surfaces. Here, inspired by biofilm formation, we present a general method for the growth of hydrogels from urease enzyme-particles by combining production of ammonia with a pH-regulated polymerization reaction in solution. We show through experiments and simulations how the propagating basic front and thiol-acrylate polymerization were continuously maintained by the localized urease reaction in the presence of urea, resulting in hydrogel layers around the enzyme particles at surfaces, interfaces or in motion. The hydrogels adhere the enzyme-particles to surfaces and have a tunable growth rate of the order of 10 µm min−1 that depends on the size and spatial distribution of particles. This approach can be exploited to create enzyme-hydrogels or chemically patterned coatings for applications in biocatalytic flow reactors.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2021 The Authors. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. |
Keywords: | Gels and hydrogels; Supramolecular chemistry |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Engineering (Sheffield) > Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering (Sheffield) |
Funding Information: | Funder Grant number Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council EP/K030574/2 |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 01 Mar 2023 10:08 |
Last Modified: | 01 Mar 2023 10:08 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Springer Science and Business Media LLC |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1038/s42004-021-00538-7 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:196854 |