Chemicals-Inspired Biomaterials: Developing Biomaterials Inspired by Material Science Based on POSS

The concept of chemicals-inspired biomaterials and several examples are demonstrated in this review. The idea and background for the design of chemicals-inspired biomaterials which are constructed based on the chemistry and characteristics in material science are explained. As an example, we show several chemicals-inspired materials utilizing polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS) as a building block to apply the material functions of the POSS chemicals for fabricating a series of biomaterials having superior properties. Initially, the filler effects of POSS are explained. Because of the robust silica cube, POSS derivatives can show significant effect as a filler reinforcing the thermal and mechanical properties of conventional plastics simply by mixing. Based on these results, we designed rigid chelators for the complexation with gadolinium ions as an MRI contrast agent. It is demonstrated that the enhancement of the rigidity is a valid strategy for the improvement of the sensitivity. Next, we assembled the functional molecules into the POSS-core dendrimer. We observed from the dendrimer complexes that photon upconversion can be accomplished via an optical process which should be suppressed in electroluminescence devices. The last topic concerns the selective encapsulation by the POSS-core dendrimer for biomolecules. From the study of PUSS-based ionic liquids, it was found that the strength of the hydrogen bonds with the ion pair moiety was significantly increased by tethering to POSS. Based on this enhancement, we accomplished selective encapsulation with the PUSS-core dendrimer. The results and the prominent properties of the chemicals-inspired biomaterials are shown in this review.