NSF/FDA SIR: In Vitro Biological Characterization of Nanoporous Diamond Membranes

North Carolina State University, Raleigh NC

Investigators

Abstract

1136330 Narayan The research objective of the proposed Scholar-in-Residence program is to apply nanofabrication technologies (e.g., microwave plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition and atomic layer deposition) and nanostructured materials (e.g., ultrananocrystalline diamond) to solve problems associated with biofouling and size-selective transport of nanoscale biological molecules. As part of this program, graduate student participants will perform in vitro biological characterization of nanoporous diamond membranes at the FDA?s Center for Devices and Radiological Health (CDRH) laboratories. The information obtained in the biological characterization, materials characterization, and functional characterization studies will serve as the basis for a chemical property-physical property-performance database, which will guide the development of nanoporous diamond membranes and other nanoporous biomaterials. In this database, the relationship between in vitro cell-material interaction, protein adsorption, and several processing parameters, including diamond crystallinity, titanium nitride crystallinity, pore size, pore density, and surface morphology, will be considered. The planned research is well-suited to goals of the NSF/FDA Scholar-in-Residence program, because it combines an advanced processing method at the UNC/NCSU Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering with comprehensive biological characterization facilities at the Food and Drug Administration.