Nanometric cellulosic layers for specific adsorption of polysaccharides and immobilization of bioactive molecules : doctoral dissertation

english

doktorska dela

2012

Univerza v Mariboru, Fakulteta za strojništvo

The aim of the thesis is to investigate the applicability of nanometric amorphous cellulose model films for the immobilization of functional DNA molecules and to apply this knowledge in the field of DNA microarray preparation. To achieve this aim, the whole thesis work is divided into three major parts, namely part I (partly and fully regenerated cellulose film preparation and its characterization), part II (functional polysaccharide conjugates preparation) and part III (DNA microarray preparation from polysaccharide functional conjugates). The first part of the work mainly focuses on the preparation of cellulose model films from spin coated trimethylsilyl cellulose (TMSC) using an in-situ and ex-situ regeneration methods and its characterization. In the in-situ method, the conversion of TMSC to pure cellulose via acid vapor hydrolysis is investigated at the gas-solid interface in real time and at ambient conditions employing quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation (QCM-D). For this purpose, a permanent flow of gaseous HCl is employed which reacts with TMSC coated surface to form pure cellulose. The kinetics behind this reaction is elucidated and reveals first order. Moreover, the influence of the acid concentration on the kinetics and on changes in mass and film thickness of TMSC is studied. In the case of an ex-situ method, partly and fully regenerated cellulose model films are prepared from spin coated TMSC films through acid vapor phase hydrolysis. This is done by exposing the TMSC films placed in a closed container to vapors of HCl. The regeneration is carried out on one hand by exposing the films to different time intervals and on the other hand to different volume of HCl. The changes in surface morphology, structure, surface composition and film thickness in the course of regeneration (i.e. desilylation) is studied by using various surface analytical techniques like atomic force microscopy (AFM), attenuated total reflectance infrared spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and 'Sarfus'-technique. In order to gain detailed insight into the desilylation reaction of the films the results from ATR-IR, XPS and thickness measurements are compared with data from static contact angle (SCA) and surface free energy (SFE) determination. esides, to verify the completion of regeneration of cellulose from TMSC the partly and fully regenerated films prepared using ex-situ method are interacted with cellulase enzymes from Trichoderma viride using QCM-D technique. The changes in mass and energy dissipation due to the interaction of the enzymes with the substrates are correlated with the surface wettability and elemental composition of the regenerated films. The enzymatic degradation rate correlated well to the rate of regeneration. It is demonstrated that capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) can be used to support QCM-D data via the detection of enzyme hydrolysis products in the eluates of the QCM-D cells. It is also shown that a combination of QCM-D together with enzymatic digestion is a reliable method to monitor the time dependent regeneration of TMSC to pure cellulose. Furthermore, the effect of heat treatment on partly and fully regenerated cellulose films prepared using ex-situ method is investigated by exposing the films to elevated temperature (105 °C) for a prolonged time (6 hours). Upon heating, a structural rearrangement in the films from a featureless to a fibrillar-like structure is observed as evidenced by AFM. Several analytical methods, namely GIXRD, ATR-IR, Sarfus, XPS and SCA data are employed to analyze the alteration in the structure, surface composition, film thickness, wettability and SFE of the time dependent regenerated films before and after heat treatment. Results from solvent (D2O/H2O) exchange studies proved that water content and water uptake capacity of heat treated cellulose films are significantly reduced compared to non heated films. Additionally, a new method is developed to structure nanometric cellulose films via vapor phase acid hydrolysis and enzymatic digestion.

08.08.2023