Superhydrophobic and icephobic materials for biomedical engineering applications

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This Alliance International Catalyst grant application outlines our initiative to employ the superhydrophobic and icephobic materials developed lately at Simon Fraser University (SFU) for advanced biomedical engineering applications explored at National Taiwan University (NTU). Particularly, we are aiming at optimized manufacture of cryomicroneedles for drug delivery and cell transplantation through skin penetration. Cryomicroneedle is a new generation of microneedle technology developed recently that allows the intradermal delivery of living cells or drugs in a minimally invasive manner. The problem to be solved is to avoid the damage when detaching the cryomicroneedles from the specially designed and fabricated polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) micromolds. In the past decade, we have made significant contributions in creating superhydrophobic materials/substrates via unconventional silanization reactions for the fabrication of more efficient microfluidic biochips and other industrial applications. The main objective of this initiative is to introduce superhydrophobic and icephobic materials to the cryomicroneedle molding process to help the microneedle formation and unloading, to engineer the surface composition and nanoscale structure of the micromolds prior to their use in making cryomicroneedles. From a broader viewpoint, this project interfaces advanced materials research at SFU (Chemistry Department and 4D Labs) and biomedical engineering studies at NTU (College of Biomedical Engineering); the establishment of such an interdisciplinary collaboration not only leads to new avenues to shape the biomedical applications of new materials and devices, but also offer unique opportunities for trainees from varied culture, discipline, and education status to gain experience and skills for their future careers in health care and medical settings nationwide.