Adhesion mediated by polymers, multivalent adhesion
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Project Description
Figure: Typical force-distance curve showing multivalent specific interactions.
Adhesion in polymeric systems occurs on various levels: Our research concentrates primarily on adhesion processes on the level of single polymer chains. We utilize single molecule force spectroscopy that allows determining the interaction of single polymer chains with substrates or polymer films. In multivalent adhesion processes the interaction is mediated by the collective effect of many weak bonds. Multivalent binding is important in many biological systems and allows controlling adhesion in a very defined manner. In collaboration with the research groups of Prof. R. Auzely Velty (University of Grenoble, France) and Prof. A. Fery, (Physical Chemistry II, UBT), we studied multivalent binding processes for polysaccharides modified by adamantane or cyclodextrine, respectively.