Functional porous substrates for attaching biomolecules
View Patent ↗A substrate comprising a microporous microstructure, an interlayer over at least a portion of the microstructure and a functional layer attached to the interlayer, the functional layer having functional sites with a density of at least 50 nanomoles/cm 2 .
1. An expanded polytetrafluoroethylene substrate comprising a microporous microstructure, said microporous microstructure having a fibril length between 0.5 and 5 microns, said microporous microstructure ranging in thickness of 250 μm or less, an interlayer over at least a portion of said microstructure, and a functional layer attached to said interlayer, said functional layer having functional sites with a density of at least 50 nanomoles/cm 2 .
2. A substrate as defined in claim 1 further comprising a functionalized site density between 2500 and 150,000 nanomoles/cm 3 .
3. A substrate of claim 1 wherein said interlayer comprises polyvinylalcohol.
4. A substrate of claim 1 wherein said functional sites comprise hydroxyl groups.
5. A substrate of claim 1 wherein said functional sites comprise amine groups.
6. A substrate of claim 1 wherein said functional sites comprise carboxyl groups.
7. A substrate of claim 1 wherein said functional sites comprise aldehyde groups.
8. A substrate of claim 1 wherein said functional sites comprise epoxide groups.
9. A substrate of claim 1 wherein said functional sites comprise nucleic acids.
10. A substrate of claim 1 wherein said functional sites comprise proteins.
11. A substrate of claim 1 wherein said functional sites comprise peptides.
12. A substrate of claim 1 wherein said functional sites comprise oligonucleotides.
13. A substrate of claim 1 wherein said functional sites comprise antibodies.
14. A substrate of claim 1 wherein said functional sites comprise cells.
15. A substrate of claim 1 wherein said functional sites comprise enzymes.
16. A substrate of claim 1 wherein said functional sites comprise pathogens.
17. A substrate of claim 1 used as a component of an active filter.
18. A substrate of claim 1 used as a component of a blotting surface.
19. A substrate of claim 1 used as a component of a diagnostic device.
20. A substrate as defined in claim 1 wherein said functional sites have a density of at least 100 nanomoles/cm 2 .
21. A substrate as defined in claim 1 wherein said functional sites have a density of at least 250 nanomoles/cm 2 .
22. A substrate as defined in claim 1 wherein said functional sites have a density of at least 500 nanomoles/cm 2 .
23. A substrate as defined in claim 1 wherein said functional sites have a density of at least 1000 nanomoles/cm 2 .
24. A substrate of claim 1 wherein said interlayer comprises sol-gel coating.
25. A substrate of claim 1 wherein said functional layer comprises organosilane.
26. A substrate of claim 1 wherein said interlayer comprises sol-gel coating, and said functional layer comprises organosilane.
27. A substrate of claim 1 further comprising biomolecules bound to the functional sites.
28. A method of creating a functionalized article comprising the steps of (1) providing an expanded polytetrafluoroethylene microporous substrate having a microstructure, said microporous microstructure having a fibril length between 0.5 and 5 microns (2) depositing an interlayer over said microstructure, (3) and attaching a functional layer to said interlayer, such that said article has a functional site density of at least 50 nanomoles/cm 2 ,
an interlayer over at least a portion of said microstructure, and a functional layer attached to said interlayer, said functional layer having functional sites with a density of at least 1000 nanomoles/cm 2 .
29. A method as defined in claim 28 further comprising a functional site density of between 2,500 and 150,000 nanomoles/cm 3 .