Thesiss

In recent years a great deal of research has focussed on understanding and exploiting self assembling peptides as they form fibrillar hydrogels for use in a variety of different applications, such as tissue engineering and drug delivery. A particular class of such peptide system…

This study investigates the feasibility of using TTO and Ag+ alone and in combination either as free or liposome encapsulated agents. Based on the minimum lethal concentration (MLC), the fractional lethal concentration index (FLCI) showed that treatment with unencapsulated combi…

The use of low-molecular weight peptide-based hydrogelators (LMWGs) for the immobilisation of enzymes is presented in this thesis. Low-molecular weight hydrogelators are a class of materials which are highly suitable for increasing enzyme lifetimes as they create a suitable biom…

Under specific conditions short peptides modified with an N-terminal fluorenyl-9-methoxycarbonyl (Fmoc) group can self-assemble into hydrogel scaffolds similar in properties to the natural extracellular matrix. Fmoc-diphenylalanine (Fmoc-FF) for instance, has been shown to form …

The launch of silicone hydrogel contact lenses has led to a rise in the incidence of mechanically-related clinical complications, which is thought to be due to the increased stiffness of these materials compared to conventional hydrogel lens materials. The mechanical characteris…