US Government as Represented by the Secretary of the Army

University of Massachusetts

Susan Tripathy, Legal Representative

Jayant Kumar

Lynne Ann Samuelson

Ferdinando F Bruno

Ramaswamy Nagarajan

Wei Liu

Bon-Cheol Ku

Sucharita Roy

Soo-Hyoung Lee

Kethinni G Chittibabu

Lian Li

Jin-An He

Srinivasan Balasubramanian

Hematin, a hydroxyferriprotoporphyrin, is derivatized with one or more non-proteinaceous amphipathic groups. The derivatized hematin can serve as a mimic of horseradish peroxidase in polymerizing aromatic monomers, such as aromatic compounds. These derivatized hematins can also be used as catalysts in polymerizing aromatic monomers, and can exhibit significantly greater catalytic activity than underivatized hematin in acidic solutions. In one embodiment, polymerization is in the presence of a template, along which aromatic monomers align. An assembled hematin includes alternating layers of hematin and a polyelectrolyte, which are deposited on an electrically charged substrate. Assembled hematin can also be used to polymerize aromatic monomers.

Polymerization of aromatic monomers using derivatives of hematin

The invention relates to a novel method for enzymatic polymerization which includes (1) obtaining a reaction mixture including a monomer, a template, and an enzyme; and (2) incubating the reaction mixture for a time and under conditions sufficient for the monomer to align along the template and polymerize to form a polymer-template complex. The template can be a micelle, a borate-containing electrolyte, or lignin sulfonate. Such a complex possesses exceptional electrical and optical stability, water solubility, and processibility, and can be used in applications such as light-weight energy storage devices (e.g., rechargeable batteries), electrolytic capacitors, anti-static and anti-corrosive coatings for smart windows, and biological sensors.

Enzymatic polymerization

A method of making a photovoltaic cell includes contacting a cross-linking agent with semiconductor particles, and incorporating the semiconductor particles into the photovoltaic cell.

Photovoltaic cell

Polymer-template complex produced by enzymatic polymerization

A conductive polymer is formed enzymatically in the presence of a polynucleotide template. The method includes combining at least one redox monomer with a polynucleotide template and a redox enzyme, such as horseradish peroxidase, to form a reaction mixture. The monomer aligns along the template before or during the polymerization. Therefore, the polynucleotide template thereby affects the molecular weight and conformation of the conductive polymer. When the conductive polymer is complexed to a polynucleotide duplex, the conformation of the polynucleotide duplex can be modulated by changing the oxidation state of the conductive polymer.

Method of forming an electrically conductive connection utilizing a polynucleotide/conductive polymer complex

Enzymatic template polymerization

Growing community of inventors

Acton, MA, United States of America

Susan Tripathy, Legal Representative