Synthesis, characterization and application of new cationic polythiophene

Date of Award

2014

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (Standard Program)

Department

Chemistry

Abstract

  • Charged conducting polymers such as cationic polythiophenes (cPTs) represent a new type of advanced material that can be potentially harnessed to address the current and emerging issues in energy and medicine. cPTs unique optical and electrical properties and their affinity to negatively charged species can be utilized in a wide range of applications. Here, a new cationic water-soluble polythiophene was synthesized via two-step post-polymerization functionalization. Results showed that the polymer was responsive in the presence of different solvents and increased temperature as assessed by UV-VIS spectroscopy. The TGA thermogram revealed that the polymer is stable up to 200 oC. The ability of this new cationic polythiophene as a DNA sensor was investigated using DNA sequences from Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Results revealed that it can distinguish a perfect match from one-base mismatch target. Another ability of this cationic polythiophene was that, it can bind with plasmid DNA. Its particle size diameter was less than 200 nm as measured by dynamic light scattering. This data, along with the fluorescence property suggest that the polymer can be potentially used as gene delivery vehicle.

Comments

The C4.C365 2014

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