SBIR-STTR Award

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project aims to enable the batch production of ultra-low fouling and functionalizable polycarboxybetaine (pCB) surface coatings. The approach is to develop a new route for the cost-effective and large-scale production of the zwitterionic carboxybetaine (CB) monomers. A novel approach to prepare high quality pCB surface coatings will also be investigated. The broader/commercial impact of this project will be the potential to provide zwitterionic materials/surface coatings technology for applications in medical devices and biosensors, drug delivery and consumer products. Zwitterionic pCB is not only highly resistant to nonspecific protein adsorption, but also has abundant functional groups for the convenient and effective immobilization of biomolecules via conventional chemistry. This makes pCB an ideal choice for many applications from diagnostics to drug delivery. However, one of the major challenges in manufacturing of pCB coatings is that CB monomers are not commercially available. This project will address this challenge by developing a process for large-scale production of CB monomers and pCB coatings

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project aims to demonstrate the extraordinary performance of zwitterionic technology in protein interaction analysis. Zwitterionic polycarboxybetaine (pCB) is not only highly resistant to nonspecific protein adsorption, but also has abundant functional groups for the convenient and effective immobilization of biomolecules via conventional chemistry. This dual-functional property distinguishes pCB from other existing low-fouling materials, and enables diagnostics or molecular recognition in complex media. In this project, high-quality zwitterionic materials and coatings will be scaled up with low-cost and simple production process. The expected outcome is that one can immobilize molecular recognition elements directly onto a non-fouling background for a wide range of applications. The broader/commercial impacts of this project will be the potential to offer an effective approach in protection of surfaces from unwanted interactions in complex media for biomedical and engineering applications. Zwitterionic technology has superior advantages of low cost, stability, effectiveness and additional functionalities. For protein interaction analysis and medical diagnostics, this technology will improve the sensitivity and specificity of a biosensor, and enable the detection of analytes in undiluted human blood plasma and serum