AbstractsBiology & Animal Science

The principal focus of this Thesis is the development and design of promising hybrid nanocomposites based on conducting polymers with the main objective of achieving applications in the field of biotechnology and biomedicine. The main lines of research can be summarized as follows;1) Preparation, characterization and evaluation of N-substituted polypyrrole derivatives and poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) for electrochemical detection of dopamine, one of the neurotransmitters associated to neurological disorders. In order to examine this purpose, different strategies have been taken into account such as, polymerization method using individual or even combined conducting polymers, the incorporation of gold nanoparticles, the use of soft templates, and other approachs. 2) Design of synthetic amino acids bearing an EDOT group to develop peptide-PEDOT hybrids materials based on chemical similarity concepts. The conjugates have shown that the electrical and electrochemical properties of the conducting polymers are preserved. Therefore, one of their potential applications would be as candidates for the development of platforms with bioactive and bioelectrocompatible properties. 3) Preparation and characterization of organic hybrid materials formed by an all-conjugated polythiophene backbone andwell-defined polyethylene glycol (PEG) grafted chains, which have powerful applicability as active surfaces for the selective adsorption of proteins and as bioactive platforms. Among several factors which influence on the structure and properties of graft copolymers, one of the most important is the molecular weight of the PEG chains which provokes a considerably reduction in the backbone conjugation length. 4) Preparation and characterization of new bionanocomposites formed by PEDOT and CREKA, which is a biologically active linear pentapeptide. The incorporation of CREKA into a PEDOT matrix has been carried out under different experimental conditions and has shown a positive effect on the electrochemical properties of conducting polymer and indicating a favourable cellular proliferation due to the ability to bind fibrin. Some research findings provided in this Thesis have been published or accepted for publication in scientific journals: 1. An electroactive and biologically responsive hybrid conjugate based on chemical similarity. G. Fabregat, G. Ballano, E. Armelin, L. J. del Valle, C. Cativiela and C. Alemán, Polym. Chem., 2013, 4, 1412. 2.Hybrid materials consisting of an all-conjugated polythiophene backbone and grafted hydrophilic poly(ethylene glycol) chains. A.-D. Bendrea, G. Fabregat, L. Cianga, F. Estrany, L. J. del Valle, I. Cianga and C. Alemán, Polym. Chem., 2013,4, 2709. 3.Polythiophene-g-poly(ethylene glycol) graft copolymers for electroactive scaffolds.A.-D. Bendrea, G. Fabregat, J. Torras, S. Maione, L. Cianga, L. J. del Valle, I. Cianga and C. Alemán, J. Mater. Chem. B, 2013,1, 4135. 4.Design of hybrid conjugates based on chemical similarity.G. Fabregat, G. Ballano, J. Casanovas, A. D. Laurent, E. Armelin,…