Robots used to research polymer adhesives

A group at the University of California at Berkeley has used JPK Instruments’ SPM systems to research biologically inspired polymer adhesives.

The research group, run by Dr Phillip Messersmith, a professor at the University of California at Berkeley, is interested in understanding structure-processing-property relationships of materials in biological systems.

The Messersmith group want to use this information to inform the design, synthesis and application of biologically inspired synthetic materials used in practical applications.

Current projects include molecular mechanochemical studies of biological wet adhesives, the design of biomimetic wet adhesive polymers and polymer composites, the control of biointerfacial phenomena in nanosystems and in antifouling surface coatings, and the development of novel biomaterials for regenerative medicine.

One of the group members, Dr Yang Wei, describes how they started to use JPK's range of SPM systems in a project about biologically inspired polymer adhesives.

The group’s goal is to understand wet biological adhesion and then to develop biologically inspired surgical adhesives for use in medicine and dentistry.

Measuring forces of interaction between proteins and polymers and surfaces are crucial to understanding how organisms such as the mussel are capable of attaching to underwater surfaces.

To achieve these measurements, atomic force microscopy has been applied to provide a very convenient way of performing biophysical studies of mussel adhesive proteins. In this work, multiple force-extension curves have been measured.

Typical of this work, a single polymer chain containing the DOPA functional group adapted from mussel adhesive proteins is pulled from a surface using an AFM tip.

This experiment was then automated with the ForceRobot300 system supplied by JPK Instruments, a manufacturer of nanoanalytic instrumentation for research in life sciences and soft matter.

Speaking of the ForceRobot300’s performance, Dr Wei said: “I specifically enjoy using this fully automated force spectroscope, with automated laser and detector alignment, which provides high quality in terms of maximum sum values and lowest Z-sensor noise level in force data output.”