UC San Diego

Two classes of macromolecules, proteins and polymers, are coated onto porous Si films in a variety of geometries in order to study fundamental behaviors of these coatings and their potential device applications. The unique preparation control that porous Si allows in both nano- morphology and surface functionalization provides the means for the coatings. In chapter two, a drug delivery platform using bovine serum albumin (BSA) protein as a stimuli-responsive capping layer on porous Si is described and characterized. It was found that the surface chemistry of the porous Si film has a profound influence on both drug loading capacity and drug release kinetics, providing for control over these drug release variables. The BSA is observed to act as a pHresponsive trigger for the release of vancomycin from the porous Si film. The drug is safely stored in the porous matrix at pH 4 and is released after triggering with pH 7.4 phosphate buffered saline. Chapter three discusses a porous SiO₂-based biosensor that is prepared by oxidizing a porous Si film, adsorbing BSA to the surface as a coating, and functionalizing the protein with specific target probes for vancomycin. The BSA was observed to adsorb strongly to the surface, resisting desoprtion in both phosphate buffered saline and triton-X buffer solutions. Quantitative binding information for the tripeptide Ac-L-Lysine-D-Alanine-D-Alanine and vancomycin is determined using the optical properties of the porous Si as a transduction methodology. Chapters four and five describe the fabrication of thermoresponsive and multifunctional nanohybrids, respectively, using stimuli- responsive hydrogels to infiltrate and coat oxidized porous Si films. The optical properties of the porous Si films are used to study the response of the hydrogel phase of the hybrids to a variety of stimuli. The optical changes correspond to previously-described physical changes in the hydrogel phase, and it was determined that this platform provides a unique opportunity to study fundamental material properties of hydrogels and hybrids, while also having potential applications in many diverse fields, including microfluidics, drug delivery, and biosensing