Cutting 2D Polyglycerols from 2D Graphitic Templates for Inhibition of Virals such as SARS‐CoV‐2

Together with their colleagues, Cluster members Jürgen P. Rabe and Mohammad Fardin Gholami published the paper »Graphene‐Assisted Synthesis of 2D Polyglycerols as Innovative Platforms for Multivalent Virus Interactions« in the international »Advanced Functional Materials«.

2D nanomaterials have garnered widespread attention in biomedicine and bioengineering due to their unique physicochemical properties. However, poor functionality, low solubility, intrinsic toxicity, and nonspecific interactions at biointerfaces have hampered their application in vivo. Here, biocompatible polyglycerol units are crosslinked in two dimensions using a graphene‐assisted strategy leading to highly functional and water‐soluble polyglycerols nanosheets with 263 ± 53 nm and 2.7 ± 0.2 nm average lateral size and thickness. The polyglycerol nanosheets are cut from the surface of graphene by slight acidification and centrifugation and is sulfated to mimic heparin sulfate proteoglycans. Their efficiency with respect to herpes simplex virus type 1 and severe acute respiratory syndrome corona virus 2 inhibition is compared to their 3D nanogel analogs. Four times stronger in virus inhibition suggests that 2D polyglycerols are superior to their current 3D counterparts.

The full version is available here: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/adfm.202009003