Polı̇mer Temellı̇ Katalı̇tı̇k Nanomotorların Hazırlanması ve Uygulamaları

Abstract

Nanomotors are one of the classes of molecular or nano-scale structures that can convert energy into motion. The dimensions of these motors can be enlarged in order to provide the desired features, and for this reason, they can also be called micromotors. As a result of the rapidly developing innovations in the field of nanotechnology, the synthesis (fabrication) and applications of these very small-scale motor structures, which have a mechanism of motion, have been one of the most interesting subjects of recent times. Nanomotors are used in different fields such as biomedicine, nanomedicine, nanoscale transport, environment, and fluid systems. Motion mechanisms are one of the essential features that distinguish these structures from other nanomaterials, and these features create two nanomotor classes which are named as "Fuel-Driven (Catalytic) Nanomotors" and "Fuel-Free Nanomotors". Catalytic nanomotors have high speeds and can move in the presence of low concentrations of fuel. Within the scope of this thesis, the synthesis and applications of polymer-based catalytic nanomotors were carried out. The outer layers of the synthesized nanomotors are poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT)/poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) carboxylic acid (PEDOT-COOH) and polypyrrole (PPy)/poly(pyrrole-3-carboxylic acid) (PPy-COOH) copolymers. Electrochemical methods were used in the template-asssisted technique in order to prepare the nanomotors. After the fabrication processes were done, the antibody (antiHER2) was immobilized onto the nanomotors, and the capacity of these antibody-loaded nanomotors to recognize breast cancer cell lines (MCF-7) was investigated. The characterization studies of the prepared nanomotors were carried out by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). In addition to that, modification of these nanostructures on electrode surfaces was performed, and the interaction with breast cancer cell line was investigated without motion. It is believed that the synthesized polymer-based catalytic nanomotors can be an alternative to existing methods in the biomedical field.