Silane-based hybrid materials for biomedical applications

In this paper, the preparation of different hybrid silane materials is presented and their possible use in biomedical applications is discussed. The first example describes the development of biocompatible coatings based on sol-gel silicates, which can be used as a protective coating for implantable glucose sensors. Blending the silica with different organic polymers modified the properties of the resulting sol-gel materials. Their biocompatibility, both in vivo and in vitro, and their applications on biosensors were investigated. In the second example, an amphiphilic block copolymer comprising hydrophilic poly(ethylene oxide) blocks and hydrophobic poly(methylphenylsilane) segments is presented. In aqueous medium, this polymer forms vesicles in which a fluorescent dye is encapsulated. It was demonstrated that the vesicle aggregates could be broken up using UV irradiation, indicating that these vesicles were potentially interesting as controlled release systems. Monolayer studies confirmed that after photolytic cleavage of the poly(methylphenylsilane) segments, no organized structures were formed from the remaining material.