Polymer brushes for immobilizing molecules to a surface and having water-soluble or water-dispersible segments therein and probes bonded thereto
First Claim
1. A polymer brush comprising:
- (a) a substrate having a surface, and (b) a layer on the substrate surface comprising polymer chains having two termini and an intermediate portion between the termini, one terminus being free and the other terminus being bound to the substrate surface, the intermediate portion being a copolymer and having a weight average molecular weight of at least about 1,000, and being substantially free of crosslinks to the intermediate portion of other polymer chains, the polymer chains having a density of from about 1 picomole per square centimeter to about 100 picomoles per square centimeter of substrate surface area.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Sensors for determining the presence and concentration of bio-molecules in a biological sample are provided in the form of polymer brushes, which comprise a substrate having a surface that is modified with a water-dispersible or water-soluble polymer segment having functional groups that bind probes. The method of synthesis of such sensors preferably includes use of controlled free radical polymerization techniques, and in particular the use of an iniferter initiator, which allows for controlled architecture polymers to modify the surface of the substrate. In this manner functional groups in the polymer chain are removed from the surface, which allows for solution chemistry to be more realistically reproduced with the benefits of a solid bound probe.
64 Citations
22 Claims
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1. A polymer brush comprising:
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(a) a substrate having a surface, and (b) a layer on the substrate surface comprising polymer chains having two termini and an intermediate portion between the termini, one terminus being free and the other terminus being bound to the substrate surface, the intermediate portion being a copolymer and having a weight average molecular weight of at least about 1,000, and being substantially free of crosslinks to the intermediate portion of other polymer chains, the polymer chains having a density of from about 1 picomole per square centimeter to about 100 picomoles per square centimeter of substrate surface area. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A polymer brush comprising:
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(a) a substrate having a surface, and (b) a layer on the substrate surface comprising polymer chains having two termini and an intermediate portion between the termini, one terminus being free and the other terminus being bound to the substrate surface, the intermediate portion being a copolymer and having a weight average molecular weight of at least about 1,000, wherein an average number of polymer chain attachment points per unit area of substrate surface, denoted by n, is greater than nc/25, where nc is the number of attachment points per unit area at which the average distance between attachment points is twice the radius of gyration of the polymer chains under the condition of the assay. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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Specification