Current Applications

Inkjet Inks and Toners
PAMAM dendrimers, at low additive levels, dramatically improve water resistance and adhesion of inks to a variety of porous or nonporous substrates such as paper, glass, plastic, or metal. Their water and alcohol solubility permit formulation of low VOC inks. These polymers exhibit Newtonian flow behavior for shear stability in these formulations. In toners, they impart good admix and flow characteristics, stable properties, and high image quality.

In vitro Diagnostics
Dendrimer-antibody conjugates are used in an immunoassay for rapid and sensitive detection of markers indicative of heart attacks.

Controlled Drug Delivery
A variety of molecules, such as drugs and other therapeutic agents, can be loaded both in the interior void space and on the surface of PAMAM dendrimers to control the rate of release of these agents into the body.

Size Standards
The exceptionally uniform molecular size of the various generations of PAMAM dendrimers make them excellent size standards for calibration of analytical instruments.

Promising Areas of Research

Gene Therapy
Recent research has shown that PAMAM dendrimers are highly effective agents for the delivery of genetic materials into a variety of cell lines. Both antisense oligonucleotides and DNA have been effectively delivered using these polymers. PAMAM dendrimers give no indication of inducing an immune response, show low in vitro cytotoxicity, and stabilize polynucleic acids against nucleases.

Imaging
PAMAM dendrimer conjugates with paramagnetic ions are being studied for use as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) contrast agents.

Sensors
Due to their organized structure, ease of modification, and strong adsorption behavior to a variety of substrates, PAMAM dendrimers can be used to produce monolayers or stacked film layers, which can be used as sensors to detect hazardous chemical vapors.

Nanocomposites
It was only recently discovered that PAMAM dendrimers form stable interior molecular nanocomposites with metal cations, zero-valent metals, other electrophilic ligands, and semiconductor particles. These materials are actively being investigated in electronics, optoelectronics and catalysis.

Organosilane Coatings
PAMAM dendrimers are the basis of poly (amidoamine) - organosilane (PAMAMOS) coating technology. PAMAMOS coatings are tough, transparent, flexible coatings, which have many of the same attributes of PAMAM dendrimers in coating form. They are being investigated for applications in microelectronics. More information on PAMAMOS dendrimers, applications and references is available for download.