Polymer characterization using MP-SPR – Adsorption studies and layer thickness
Application Note #149
Schematic view of the adsorption of block copolymers onto nanocellulose surfaces and of serum components onto the poly(ethylene glycol) polymer brushes, as studied using MP-SPR.
Polymers are extensively studied and often interactions play a key role in the product functionality. Two separate polymer interaction studies were conducted using label-free real-time Multi-Parametric Surface Plasmon Resonance (MP-SPR). Functionalization of nanocellulose surfaces was performed by adsorption of block copolymers. The efficacy of anti-fouling of the PEG-based polymer brushes was quantified by measuring adsorption of serum samples. Based on the MP-SPR measurements, polymers were further characterized in terms of thickness and adsorbed mass. Nanocellulose functionalization was confirmed to be successful and -OH terminated 10 kDa PEG was found to be the best anti-fouling coating, producing 99% resistance.
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Further reading
- If you are interested in reading more, see AN#128 about thickness and refractive index of thin films and AN#149 about material swelling studies in vapor.
- Do you want to find out how to calculate thickness out of MP-SPR measurements? Click here
- Do you want to see how MP-SPR instruments work? Click here
- Do you want to see MP-SPR instruments comparison? Click here
- Have a look at original publications: Emilsson et. al. (2015), Vuoriluoto et. al (2015)