Visible label-free detection of bacterial DNA using flocculation of sterically stabilised cationic latexes.

The current gold standard diagnostic for bacterial infections is the use of culture, which can be time consuming and can take up to five days for results to be reported. There is therefore an unmet clinical need for a rapid and label free alternative. This paper demonstrates a method of detecting the presence of amplified DNA from bacterial samples using a sterically-stabilised, cationic polymer latex and widely available equipment, providing an accessible alternative DNA detection technique.

Physical Adsorption of Graphene Oxide onto Polymer Latexes and Characterization of the Resulting Nanocomposite Particles.

Polymer/graphene oxide (GO) nanocomposite particles were prepared heteroflocculation between 140-220 nm cationic latex nanoparticles and anionic GO nanosheets in either acidic or basic conditions. It is demonstrated that nanocomposite particles can be formed using either poly(2-vinylpyridine)--poly(benzyl methacrylate) (P2VP-PBzMA) block copolymer nanoparticles prepared by reversible-addition chain-transfer (RAFT)-mediated polymerization-induced self-assembly (PISA), or poly(ethylene glycol)methacrylate (PEGMA)-stabilized P2VP latexes prepared by traditional emulsion polymerization. These two latexes are different morphologically as the P2VP-PBzMA block copolymer latexes have P2VP steric stabilizer chains in their corona, whereas the PEGMA-stabilized P2VP particles have a P2VP core and a nonionic steric stabilizer.

Preparation and characterisation of graphene oxide containing block copolymer worm gels.

This paper reports a generic method for preparing reinforced nanocomposite worm-gels. Aqueous poly(glycerol monomethacrylate)--poly(2-hydroxypropyl methacrylate) (PGMA-PHPMA) and methanolic poly(glycerol monomethacrylate)--poly(benzyl methacrylate) (PGMA-PBzMA) worm gels were prepared by RAFT-mediated polymerisation-induced self-assembly (PISA). The former system undergoes a reversible worm-to-sphere degelation transition upon cooling to 5 °C whilst the latter system undergoes the same transition on heating to 56 °C.

Pyridine-functional diblock copolymer nanoparticles synthesized RAFT-mediated polymerization-induced self-assembly: effect of solution pH.

Polymerization-induced self-assembly (PISA) reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization has become widely recognized as a versatile and efficient strategy to prepare complex block copolymer nanoparticles with controlled morphology, size, and surface functionality. In this article, we report the preparation of cationic sterically-stabilized poly(2-vinylpyridine)-poly(benzyl methacrylate) (P2VP-PBzMA) diblock copolymer nanoparticles RAFT-mediated PISA under aqueous emulsion polymerization conditions. It is demonstrated that the solution pH during PISA has a dramatic effect on the resulting P2VP-PBzMA nanoparticles, as judged by dynamic light scattering (DLS), disc centrifuge photosedimentometry (DCP) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM).