102 Chandlee Lab
Tel:814-865-3527
Fax:814-865-3314
Email:hra@chem.psu.edu
Research studies entail the application of chemical synthesis to polymer chemistry, materials science, and biomedicine, and the chemical synthesis of new materials to generate useful combinations of properties. By using a polymer backbone of phosphorus and nitrogen atoms, and by attaching various side groups to these backbones, it is possible to bias the properties toward a number of potential biomedical uses, such as membrane formation, hydrogel formation, water-solubility, bioerodibility, microcapsule formation, etc. For example, by using the appropriate side group, some polyphosphazenes have been shown to degrade hydrolytically to harmless small molecules that can be metabolized or excreted. Others are being studied for their role as a microencapsulation medium for mammalian cells and proteins, and some polyphosphazenes generate elasticity that have potential uses as artificial organs, blood vessels, etc. These studies are conducted in three fully-equipped chemical laboratories located in the University Park Chandlee Laboratory with 3800 sq. ft. of synthetic space, plus 1300 sq. ft. of space for instruments and polymer characterization. Available within the Allcock research group are a JEOL-FX90Q multinuclear NMR spectrometer; an Enraf-Nonius CAD-4 X-ray diffractometer; a Perkin Elmer FTIR spectrometer; DSC, TGA, and TMA equipment; HPLC, GPC, and VPX units; powder X-ray diffraction equipment; inert atmosphere glove boxes; pressure reactors, and all the necessary conventional equipment for carrying out synthetic polymer chemistry.
Allcock, H. R., S. R. Pucher, A. G. Scopelianos. Poly[(amino acid ester)phosphazenes]: Synthesis, crystallinity, and hydrolytic sensitivity in solution and the solid state. Macromolecules 27: 1072, 1994.
Laurencin, C. A., M. E. Norman, H. M. Elgendy, S. F. El-Amin, H. R. Allcock, S. R. Pucher, A. A. Ambrosio. Use of polyphosphazenes for skeletal tissue regeneration. J Biomed Mater Res. 27: 963, 1993.
Cohen, S., M. D. Bano, L. G. Cima, H. R. Allcock, J. P. Vacanti, C. A. Vacanti, R. Langer. Design of synthetic polymeric structures for cell transplantation and tissue engineering. Clinical Materials 13: 3, 1993.
Allcock, H. R. Rational Design and Synthesis of New Polymeric Materials. Science 255: 1106, 1992.
Cohen, S., M. C. Bano, K. B. Visscher, M. Chow, H. R. Allcock, R. Langer. An Ionically-Cross-linkable Polyphosphazene: A Novel Polymer for Microencapsulation. J Am Chem Soc 112: 7832, 1990.