(384c) Design of Polymer-Grafted Particles for Biocompatability | AIChE

(384c) Design of Polymer-Grafted Particles for Biocompatability

Authors 

Ganesan, V. - Presenter, University of Texas at Austin


Drug designers often coat drug particles with grafted polymers in order to introduce a net repulsion between the particles and blood proteins. This net repulsion results from the energy cost of compressing grafted chains on approach of proteins. It thus overcomes the Van Der Waals attraction between drug and protein which would otherwise cause particle-protein agglomeration and ultimately thrombosis. This study proposes to develop a fundamental understanding of the role of different features in controlling the efficacy of the grafted layers. We address this issue by developing a framework to predict the interactions between a polymer-coated spherical particle and a bare spherical particle. In order to fully capture the two-sphere system, a numerical solution of polymer mean field theory is used in a bispherical coordinate system. Results for protein-particle interaction energies with varying particle sizes, protein sizes, grafting densities, inter-particle distances, excluded volume parameters, and chain lengths will be presented.