Research Project Description

    Stewart Research Group
    Department of Chemistry, University of Florida
    Smart, Self-Assembling Nanostructures for Drug Delivery

This project is an NSF-funded collaboration with groups led by Martin (Chemistry), Dennis, Melker and Rogers (Anesthesiology). Our goal is to use nanotechnology to create smart delivery vehicles that carry drug payloads to specific locations, enter diseased cells, then empty their contents.

Nanoscale tubes can

be created using alumina templates¹ from a variety of materials. Our preliminary work has focused on silica tubes that can be prepared by standard sol-gel chemistry.² The tube surface is chemically modified to possess specific functional groups that react with complementary species on nanospheres. The result is a covalently capped "nanotest tube,"

which can be released from the alumina template by treating with mild acid.³ Capped nano test tubes can be directly visualized using scanning electron microscopy. We are currently developing new covalent linkages between the nanotest tubes and caps that can be cleaved after the assemblies enter cells. We are also learning how to construct the components from biocompatible and biodegradable materials.

Selected References

A Nanostructured Honeycomb Carbon Anode. N.C. Li, D.T. Mitchell, K.P. Lee, and C.R. Martin, J. Electrochem. Soc. 2003, 150, A979-A984.
Sol-Gel Template Synthesis of Semiconductor Oxide Micro- and Nanostructures. B.B. Lakshmi, C.J. Patrissi and C.R. Martin, Chem. Mater. 1997, 9, 2544-2550.
Corking Nano Test Tubes by Chemical Self Assembly. H. Hillebrenner, M. Kang, F. Buyukserin, M.O. Mota, J.D. Stewart and C.R. Martin, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2006, in press.