OLIGOMERIC AND POLYMERIC PHOTOSENSITIZERS COMPRISING A POLYNUCLEAR AROMATIC GROUP

Cationic polymerization is employed in many commercially important applications, including, for example, decorative and abrasion resistant coatings, printing inks, adhesives, fiber reinforced composites, microelectronic encapsulations, tan coatings, pressure sensitive adhesives, high performance aerospace composites, fiber optic coatings, stereolithography, photoresist and holographic recording media. The term UV cure has also been applied to such processes because the polymerizations are typically induced by light having a wavelength in UV region below about 450 nm.

SELECTIVE, ELECTROCHEMICAL ETCHING OF A SEMICONDUCTOR

Advances in the semiconductor industry continue to be desired to address demand for semiconductor devices capable of high performance and low power consumption in a wide variety of applications. In one or more applications, enhanced high-voltage semiconductor devices such as, enhanced Schottky diodes, p-i-n diodes, insulated-gate bipolar transistors (IGBT), bipolar junction transistors (BJTs), etc., may be desired for, for instance, high-speed power switching applications.

Self-assembled sub-nanolayers as interfacial adhesion enhancers and diffusion barriers

Isolating individual components of nanoscale architectures comprised of thin films or nanostructures, without significantly impacting their functionalities, is a critical challenge in micro- and nano-scale device fabrication. One example that illustrates this challenge is seen in Cu interconnect structures for nanometer devices. These devices use interfacial barrier nanolayers to isolate copper layers from dielectric layers.

Three-dimensional scaffolds, methods for fabricating the same, and methods of treating a peripheral nerve or spinal cord injury

Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) can result in catastrophic loss of function. In the US, 450,000 people live with SCI. Ongoing neuroscience research focuses on ways to improve nervous tissue regeneration, including development of innovative biomaterials. Implantable scaffolds composed of aligned polymer fibers have shown considerable promise in directing regenerating axons in vitro and in vivo. Highly aligned polymer fibers are necessary for neural tissue engineering applications to ensure that axonal extension occurs efficiently through a regenerating environment.

Synthetic membranes and methods of use thereof

Standard interfacial polymerization and phase inversion based-membranes are complex, sensitive to small changes, susceptible to residual chlorine, and have rough surfaces enabling unfavorable adsorption. There is an urgent need to improve synthetic membrane filtration performance for systems which recover biofuels in energy production and desalinize sea and brackish water for potable use. This technology includes a new class of tunable, selective, synthetic membranes and process of making thereof, which outperform commercially available membranes.

INTERNALIZATION OF PROTEINS INTO HOLLOWED GOLD NANOSTRUCTURES

Hollow gold nanoparticles, also known as gold nanocages, are effective vehicles for the transport and administration of therapeutic agents, bioactive compounds, biomolecular reagents, biocatalysts, and other molecular compounds of interest. However, better control of the bioavailability of gold nanocages content is needed. The patent describes a gold nanocage with pores, charged ligand molecules covalently bound to internal surfaces of the gold nanocage, and payload molecules electrostatically adsorbed onto the charged ligand molecules.

Reversible Biogel with Inverse Temperature Response for Nano- and Bio-encapsulation

The unique properties of carbon nanotubes (CNT), more specifically, single walled carbone nanotubes (SWNT), have made them excellent candidates for applications in bio-sensing, fuel cells, and nanofabrication. Considerable research effort has been devoted to development of methods to achieve stable suspensions of highly dispersed CNTs. However, progress has been impeded by two major hurdles. FIrst, their poor solubility in both aqueous and organic solvents makes them difficult to manipulate and functionalize.

ENHANCED STABILITY OF PROTEINS IMMOBILIZED ON NANOPARTICLES

Many proteins lose enzymatic activity in harsh environments, such as non-optimal pH or temperature, or exposure to organic solvents. This invention is based on the discovery that by attaching certain proteins to single-walled carbon nanotubes ("SWNT"), protein function under such harsh conditions can be dramatically improved. Two enzymes which were stabilized in this manner, subtilisin carlsberg and soybean peroxidase, were found to be orders of magnitude more active than the native state enzyme when exposed to severe environments. Additionally, the enzymes attached to the SWNTs w

UV-ASSISTED GRAFTING OF PES AND PSF MEMBRANES

Ultrafiltration (UF) membranes have found widespread use in the food and biotechnology industries. UF has been applied in the processing of normal and transgenic milk, cheese and eggs, whey and potato protein recovery, the clarification of juices and wine, the recovery of proteins from animal blood, and the purification of water. UF is also used in the biotechnology industry for the recovery of biological products through such steps as cell broth clarification, cell harvesting, concentration or diafiltration of protein solutions prior to separation, and final concentration.