Enzymatically active microspheres for self-propelled colloidal engines

<p>Micro- and nano-motors have attracted numerous attentions from various scientific areas due to their potential applications. Most studies on self-propelled colloidal engines have exploited catalytic decomposition of hydrogen peroxide to drive the motor. Since the hydrogen peroxide is caustic, it is not suitable to use in biological applications, encouraging people to develop “greener” fuels. The aim of this research is to study a new transduction mechanism for self-propulsion not tied to hydrogen peroxide, and which can in particular be used with biological molecules as fuels. In this study, we focus on making particles with enzymatic activity which can effectively decompose biomolecules for self-propulsion. We select elastase as a catalyst and coat it on the surface of polystyrene (PS) particles, and use SucAla₃-pNA as a substrate to examine the activity of the elastase-coated particles. We exploit biotin-streptavidin chemistry to couple the elastase on the surface of the PS particles. We confirm that SucAla₃-pNA can be effectively decomposed by elastase and elastase-coated particles using spectrophotometric measurement. The results demonstrate that the elastase-coated PS particles are catalytically active, showing great potential to be used in biologically-friendly system.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Engineering (M.E.)

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Chemical Engineering

Year dc:date.available

2017

Author dc:creator

• Park, Jungeun

Contributors dc:contributor

• Charles Maldarelli

• Self-propelled colloids
• Enzyme
• Elastase
• Active colloids
• Microspheres
• Biochemical and Biomolecular Engineering
• Biochemistry
• Other Chemical Engineering
• Statistical, Nonlinear, and Soft Matter Physics

Repository record dc:identifier

https://academicworks.cuny.edu/cc_etds_theses/671

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:academicworks.cuny.edu:cc_etds_theses-1670