 |
MARISA FERRER |
||
|
Current
Address Instituto
de Ciencia de Materiales de Madrid, CSIC, e-mail: mferrer@icmm.csic.es |
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS OF RECENT YEARS | ||
| Ramon y Cajal Scientist of Materials Chemistry | Ph.D. Autónoma University, Madrid | Sc.B. Autónoma University, Madrid | |
BIOENCAPSULATION IN
SOL-GEL MATRICES
Isolating
biomolecules in individual pores of a silica matrix prepared by the
sol-gel
process has been achieved in the last years. Sol-gel matrices have been
shown
to be relatively inert while allowing biologic materials to be
stabilised
preserving their structure properties and biological activity. Biologic
material encapsulated in sol-gel glasses can interact with a high
degree of
sensitivity and specificity against small ions or molecules that may
diffuse
trough the pore network of a robust matrix while is being protected
from
degradation due to microorganisms. As sol-gel method allows a wide
variety of
processing including monoliths, thin films, powders and fibers, the
obtained
biomaterial turns to be very attractive for demanding applications in
bioorganic synthesis, medical diagnosis, biotechnology and
environmental
technologies. In that direction great effort is being done in
developing
improved biocatalysts, biosensors, bioimplants, biooptical devices etc.
However, to obtain high performance on a desired application it is
necessary to
adjust the encapsulation conditions to the specific biomolecule,
searching for
the highest stability and functionality without loosing the quality of
the
matrix properties (brittleness, porosity, optic properties, etc..).