ELECTROACTIVE BIOPOLYMER OPTICAL AND ELECTRO-OPTICAL DEVICES AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURING THE SAME
A method of manufacturing a biopolymer optical device includes providing a polymer, providing a substrate, casting the polymer on the substrate, and enzymatically polymerizing an organic compound to generate a conducting polymer between the provided polymer and the substrate. The polymer may be a biopolymer such as silk and may be modified using organic compounds such as tyrosines to provide a molecular-level interface between the provided bulk biopolymer of the biopolymer optical device and a substrate or other conducting layer via a tyrosine-enzyme polymerization. The enzymatically polymerizing may include catalyzing the organic compound with peroxidase enzyme reactions. The result is a carbon-carbon conjugated backbone that provides polymeric “wires” for use in polymer and biopolymer optical devices. An all organic biopolymer electroactive material is thereby provided that provides optical functions and features.
1 - 26 . (canceled)
27 . A device comprising a biopolymer,
wherein the biopolymer is modified to have an additional function,
wherein the additional function is a cell binding domain, a redox trigger, a phosphorylation trigger, or a combination thereof; and,
wherein the device is an optical or electro-optical device.
28 . The device of claim 27 , wherein the cell binding domain is an RGD domain.
29 . The device of claim 27 , wherein the redox trigger is a methionine.
30 . The device of claim 27 , wherein the optical or electro-optical device is selected from the group consisting of:
diffraction gratings, photonic crystals, optofluidic devices, waveguides, lenses, microlens arrays, pattern generators, beam reshapers, electro-optical collectors, solar collectors, and mechanical actuators with optical readout.
31 . The device of any one of claims 27 - 30 , wherein the biopolymer is selected from the group consisting of:
silk fibroin, chitosan, collagen, gelatin, agarose, chitin, polyhydroxyalkanoates, pullan, starch, cellulose, hyaluronic acid, polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), and combinations thereof.
32 . A method of manufacturing a device comprising a modified biopolymer, the method comprising steps of:
providing a substrate;
providing a biopolymer solution;
casting the biopolymer solution on the substrate;
catalyzing a reaction to alter the biopolymer to provide a modified biopolymer having an additional functional feature,
wherein the additional functional feature is a conducting wire, a cell binding domain, a redox trigger, a phosphorylation trigger, or a combination thereof.
33 . The method of claim 32 , wherein the step of catalyzing comprises chemical coupling, enzymatic reaction, or combination thereof.
34 . The method of claim 32 , wherein the step of catalyzing comprises polymerization.
35 . The method of claim 32 , wherein the step of catalyzing comprises addition of an organic compound.
36 . The method of claim 35 , wherein the organic compound is an aromatic moiety, tyrosine, methionine, or combination thereof.
37 . The method of claim 32 , wherein the step of catalyzing comprises a peroxidase, a lipase, an amylose, an organophosphate dehydrogenase, a restriction endonuclease, s ribonuclease, a DNA polymerases, a glucose oxidase, a laccase, or a combination thereof.
38 . The method of any one of claims 32 - 37 , wherein the biopolymer is selected from the group consisting of:
silk fibroin, chitosan, collagen, gelatin, agarose, chitin, polyhydroxyalkanoates, pullan, starch, cellulose, hyaluronic acid, polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), and combinations thereof.
39 . The method of claim 32 , wherein the substrate is a template for at least one of an electro-optical collector, a solar collector, a mechanical actuator with optical readout, a lens, a microlens array, an optical grating, a pattern generator, and a beam reshaper.