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SINTEF The Foundation for Scientific and Industrial Research at the Norwegian Institute of Technology
1. Institution The SINTEF Group performs contract research and development for industry and the public sector in the fields of technology and the natural and social sciences. With approx. 1600 employees and an annual turnover of NOK 1.5 billion, SINTEF is one of Europe’s largest independent research organisations. Contracts from the public and private sectors provide 92% of the operating revenue. Our task as a general foundation is to help ensure that our expertise is used to support a sustainable process of creation of value in the community. The wide range of disciplines covered by 8 research institutes and 4 research companies gives a good basis for interdisciplinary co-operation and gives the competence to carry out large multidisciplinary projects and programmes. For more information look at: http://www.sintef.no
2. Department of Polymer Chemistry The Department of Polymer Chemistry is part of the research institute SINTEF Applied Chemistry, which has approx. 180 employees and a turnover of NOK 160 mill, and is organised in 10 departments, covering a wide range of chemistry disciplines. The core business of the Department of Polymer Chemistry is particle technology and surface modification of polymers and polymer particles. Competence in polymerisation processes, surface and colloid chemistry, organic synthesis and ligand immobilisation is used to perform projects in the core business area. A broad variety of projects have been performed, reaching from low-price, high-volume PVC-products to high-price, low-volume speciality products for medicine. The Department has modern equipment for the characterisation of polymers, surfaces and particles. More detailed information you find at: http://www.sintef.no/units/chem/Polymer
3. Main research areas of interest for medical applications Particle preparation:
450 mm particles of resorcinol/formaldehyde, a phenolic resin (left) and 4 µm compact, degradable particles with hydrolizable ester bonds (right) A lot of know-how in the fields of particle technology, polymerisation methods, surface modification and ligand coupling have been built up during the performance of projects with medical and biochemical applications. An example is the development of the Dynabeads, highly monosized, non-magnetic and magnetic particles with various functional surfaces. Particles in all sizes from a few nm to 1mm may be prepared by various methods. There are a lot of variations possible as concerns the properties of the particles, such as:
These particles may have applications as carriers for bioactive materials (vaccination, drug release, slow release), particulate implants, sinter materials and solid phase for bioseparation. Surface modification: A high level of know-how in modification of polymer surfaces is built up. Polymer surfaces may be modified by core and shell morphology, co-polymerisation, grafting and surface chemistry. Both single-point modification and coating by compact layers may be performed. Some interesting properties that may be achieved by these modifications are:
Such surfaces will help to design new, improved functional biomaterials for implants, biosensors, membranes and solid phases for ligand immobilisation. Analysis of particulate systems:
Follow-up of several steps in surface modification by FTIR Our laboratories are well equipped for the characterisation of polymers and polymer particles. Some of the most important instruments are listed below:
Studies of interactions between polymer surfaces and biological materials:
4.5µm magnetic particles selectively attached to Burkittlymphoma cell (left) and smooth polymer surface interacting with biological material (right) General, basic competence is built up over a long period during the development of Dynabeads. The department has also worked in the field of biosensor development. A wide variety of ligands have been immobilised during earlier work. Some examples are shown below:
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