The overall aims of this thesis were the preparation, using inkjet printing and robotics, of libraries of multi-component formulations for the design of new materials (pigment based inks, polymer blends and lipoplexes) applied to inkjet printer, cell binding and cell transfection, respectively. This was followed by their screening and the assessment of their suitability for its design, looking at which main variables (factors) and settings (range) influenced the properties of the formulations. A key component of the preparation of these libraries, was the application of a design of experimental methods, which directed the preparation of the formulations and allowed the development of mathematical models for material prediction and optimisation, as follows: (1). Formulations of pigment based inks, which were prepared and analysed for determination of which components provided a suitable viscosity for good jet performance and printing quality. Model development showed that diethyleneglycol was the main mixture factor that controlled viscosity, while voltage and pulse width were the main process factors that provided an increase of drop velocity and spread on substrate. (2). Formulations of polymer blends were assessed for cell binding. The best blends were poly(DL-lactide-co-glycolide) and chitosan. Rheological analysis showed that blends containing 50 % w/w of chitosan gave the highest values of viscosity and shear thinning behaviour, showing their loss moduli(G”) greater than their storage moduli (G’). (3). Lipoplexes are combinations of DNA and cationic lipids that are used to transfect cells. Formulation libraries of cationic lipids were prepared, with model development, showing that the ratios of cationic lipid/DNA and co-lipid/cationic lipid were the most important factors, and were inversely proportional to transfection.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:657310 |
| Date | January 2009 |
| Creators | Lopez-Pedrosa, Jose Maria |
| Publisher | University of Edinburgh |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://hdl.handle.net/1842/15230 |
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