Graft polymer martrices

1 . A three-dimensional, non-crosslinked, linear or branched graft polymer matrix comprising one or more active chemical moieties having inherent specificity for binding to a chemical, biochemical, or biological probe, wherein said moieties are permanently attached to and distributed throughout the graft polymer matrix.

2 . The matrix of claim 1 additionally comprising at least one probe having selective affinity for a target.

3 . The matrix of claim 1 wherein the matrix is comprised of linear or branched graft polymer molecules of controlled length and density.

4 . The matrix of claim 1 wherein the active chemical moieties are attached as side chains to the backbone of the graft polymer chain.

5 . The matrix of claim 1 wherein the probe is a nucleic acid or protein.

6 . The matrix of claim 1 wherein the probe is a toxin, pathogen or pharmaceutical agent.

7 . The matrix of one of claim 2 , wherein the target is selected from the group consisting of viruses, bacteria, fungi, parasites, and molecules or molecular fragments of DNA, RNA, proteins, carbohydrates and lipids.

8 . The matrix of claim 1 additionally comprising at least one structural modifier.

9 . The matrix of claim 1 wherein the active chemical moieties are selected from the group consisting of amines, carboxylic acids, epoxides, aldehydes, sulfhydryls, haloacetamides and carboxylic acid succinimidyl esters.

10 . The matrix of claim 9 wherein the active chemical moiety is a N-hydroxysuccinimidyl ester of a carboxylic acid.

11 . The matrix of claim 1 that contains a plurality of different chemical moieties.

12 . The matrix of claim 1 wherein the chemical moieties are further modified to alter their reactivity.

13 . The matrix of claim 12 wherein the chemical moieties are side-chain chemical moieties, and are further modified with spacer groups to further enhance their reactivity.

14 . An article comprising the matrix of claim 1 .

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19 . An article having on its surface a coating comprising a three-dimensional, non-crosslinked, linear or branched graft polymer matrix, bonded to the article, comprising one or more chemical moieties that are permanently attached to and distributed throughout the graft polymer matrix wherein said chemical moieties impart specific functional utility to the article.

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37 . An article having on its surface a multilayer coating comprising:

a) an adhesive layer comprising a polymer or polymer mixture, bound to the article surface; and

b) a three-dimensional, non-crosslinked, linear or branched graft polymer matrix, bonded to the polymer layer, comprising one or more chemical moieties that are permanently attached to and distributed throughout the graft polymer matrix, wherein said chemical moieties impart specific functional utility to the article.

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56 . A method for applying a three-dimensional, linear or branched graft polymer matrix to an article with a controlled graft polymer surface density, said method comprising the steps of:

a) applying to said surface a solution comprising:

i) an organic solvent or mixture of organic solvents,

i) a polymer or mixture of polymers which is soluble in said solvent or solvent mixture and insoluble in water, and

iii) a radical initiator that is soluble in said solvent or solvent mixture, said initiator being capable of generating reactive radical sites on the polymer-coated surface and initiating a graft polymerization reaction on said surface by generating reactive radical sites thereon;

b) removing the solvents to leave upon the polymer-coated surface a coating of initiator dissolved in polymer;

c) immersing the polymer coated surface in a medium comprising one or more monomers in solution that are capable of reacting with the reactive sites created by surface bound initiator to form a polymer chain grafted onto said polymer-coated surface;

d) initiating a graft polymerization reaction on said polymer-coated surface by generating reactive radical sites thereon;

e) graft polymerizing onto the polymer-coated surface the reactive monomers from the medium by forming covalent bonds between monomer molecules and the polymer-coated surface at reactive radical sites on the polymer-coated surface;

to obtain a coated article.

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79 . A method for applying a three-dimensional, linear or branched graft polymer matrix with a controlled graft polymer surface density to an article, said method comprising the steps of:

a) applying to said surface a solution comprising:

i) an organic solvent or mixture of organic solvents and

ii) a polymer or mixture of polymers which is soluble in said solvent or solvent mixture and insoluble in water;

b) removing the solvents to obtain a polymer-coated surface;

c) exposing said polymer-coated surface to an initiator capable of generating reactive radical sites on the polymer coated surface and initiating a graft polymerization reaction on said surface by generating reactive radical sites thereon;

d) immersing the polymer-coated surface in a medium comprising one or more monomers in solution that are capable of reacting with the reactive sites created by surface bound initiator to form a polymer chain grafted onto said surface;

e) initiating a graft polymerization reaction on said coated surface by generating reactive radical sites thereon;

f) graft polymerizing onto the coated surface the reactive monomers from the medium by forming covalent bonds between monomer molecules and the surface at reactive radical sites on the polymer coated surface;

to obtain an article with a coated surface having a controlled graft polymer surface density.

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102 . A method for applying a three-dimensional, non-crosslinked, linear or branched graft polymer matrix with a controlled graft polymer surface density to an article, said method comprising the steps of:

a) applying to said surface a solution comprising:

i) an organic solvent or mixture of organic solvents with water, and

ii) a silane monomer or mixture of silane monomers or nonreactive silanes which is soluble in said solvent or solvent water mixture;

b) removing the solvent to obtain a coated surface with silane attached monomers or other silane attached non-reactive groups upon the surface;

c) exposing said coated surface to an initiator capable of generating reactive radicals on the surface and initiating a graft polymerization reaction on said surface by generating reactive radical sites thereon;

d) immersing the coated surface in a medium comprising one or more monomers in solution that are capable of reacting with the reactive radical sites created by surface bound initiator to form a polymer chain grafted onto said surface; and

e) initiating a graft polymerization reaction on said coated surface by generating reactive radical sites thereon;

f) graft polymerizing onto the coated surface the reactive monomers from the medium by forming covalent bonds between monomer molecules and the surface at reactive radical sites on the coated surface

to obtain an article with a three-dimensional, non-crosslinked, linear or lightly branched graft polymer matrix with a controlled graft polymer surface density.

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123 . A method for applying a three-dimensional, non-crosslinked, linear or lightly branched graft polymer matrix with a controlled graft polymer surface density to an article, said method comprising the steps of:

a) applying to said surface a solution comprising:

i) an organic solvent or mixture of organic solvents with water and

ii) a silane with an attached initiator a or mixture of nonreactive silanes with attached initiators or silanes which is soluble in said solvent or solvent water mixture;

b) removing the solvents to leave a coated surface with silane attached initiators or other silane attached non-reactive groups upon the surface,

c) immersing the coated surface in a medium comprising one or more monomers in solution that are capable of reacting with the reactive sites created by surface bound initiator to form a polymer chain grafted onto said surface;

d) initiating a graft polymerization reaction on said coated surface by generating reactive radical sites thereon; and

e) graft polymerizing onto the coated surface the reactive monomers from the medium by forming covalent bonds between monomer molecules and the surface at reactive radical sites on the coated surface;

to obtain an article having a three-dimensional, non-crosslinked, linear or lightly branched graft polymer matrix with a controlled graft polymer surface density.

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144 . A method of making a microarray comprising the steps of

a) applying the matrix of claim 1 to a surface, wherein said matrix contains chemical moieties that react with, or can be modified to react with a biomolecule;

b) providing a solution of a probe biomolecule;

c) applying said solution to the matrix under conditions such that said probe biomolecules become bound to said chemical moieties.

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147 . A microarray made by the method of claim 144 .

148 . A biochip comprising the microarray of claim 147 .

149 . A method of detecting a target biomolecule, comprising contacting the biochip of claim 148 with a test sample in which the target biomolecule may be present.