Ian Wark Research Institute
ARC Special Research Centre
ARC Special Research Centre
Research Area: Physical chemistry, materials science,
pharmaceutical science
Degree: Honours
Supervisors:
A/Prof David Beattie and Dr Kristen Bremmell (School of Pharmacy and
Medical Sciences)
Description: The storage and release of small therapeutic
molecules from surfaces and colloidal systems is a key goal of many drug
delivery studies. Polymer multilayer films represent a very attractive
class of surface treatments that can be used for this purpose, in for
example, implants and dermal patches. Such films can be made to be
biocompatible, non-fouling, and lubricious. In addition, these layers
can be produced in such a way as to make them stimulus responsive, i.e.
their composition and properties can be altered by 'flicking a switch'
in the system, such as changing temperature, pH, or exposure to UV
light. The aim of this project is to use such films to selectively
absorb and release model therapeutic agents in response to such stimuli.
Methodology
- Formation of polymer mulitlayers and their characterisation using
techniques such as quartz crystal microbalance (QCM), surface plasmon
resonance (SPR), and vibrational spectroscopy (FTIR).
- Loading of the polymer layers with model and actual therapeutic agents
(monitored using QCM, SPR, UV and FTIR).
- Kinetic release studies of the therapeutic agents (monitored using QCM,
SPR, UV and FTIR).
