Publications related to Succinimidyl Carbonate-Based Amine-Reactive Polymer Brushes: Facile Fabrication of Functional Interfaces

The Structural Dispersity of Oligoethylene Glycol-Containing Polymer Brushes Determines Their Interfacial Properties

Harm-Anton Klok, Alberto Ongaro, Irene Filipucci

Ought to their bioinert properties and facile synthesis, poly[(oligoethylene glycol)methacrylate]s (POEGMAs) have been raised as attractive alternatives to poly(ethylene glycols) (PEGs) in an array of (bio)material applications, especially when they are ap ...

Amer Chemical Soc2024

Highly dispersed nanomaterials in polymer matrix via aerosol-jet-based multi-material 3D printing

Michael James Henry Smith

Polymer-based nanocomposites emerged in the 1960s as a groundbreaking approach to advanced materials. By incorporating robust, durable, and multifunctional nanomaterials into a polymer matrix, the performance of nanocomposites has significantly surpassed t ...

Elsevier2024

Hybrid organic/metal-oxide shells on semiconductor nanocrystals via colloidal atomic layer deposition

Ona Segura Lecina

The escalating energy demand and the imperative necessity to reduce the carbon footprint require transformative approaches to energy conversion. Materials chemistry plays a pivotal role in addressing these global challenges by developing novel materials fo ...

EPFL2024

Architecturally Diverse Polymer Brushes Prepared via Surface-Initiated Atom Transfer Radical Polymerization

Sabrina Sant

Polymer brushes, which are polymers anchored to a solid substrate by one chainend, have the ability to modify the properties of an underlying substrate, offering intriguing features such as enhanced lubrication, reduced friction, colloidal stability, and a ...

EPFL2023

Supramolecular Polymer Brushes Grown by Surface-Initiated Atom Transfer Radical Polymerization from Cucurbit[7]uril-based Non-Covalent Initiators

Harm-Anton Klok, Friederike Katharina Metze, Irene Filipucci

Polymer brushes are densely grafted, chain end-tethered assemblies of polymers that can be produced via surface-initiated polymerization. Typically, this is accomplished using initiators or chain transfer agents that are covalently attached to the substrat ...

Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH2023

Opportunities, Challenges, and Pitfalls in Making, Characterizing, and Understanding Polymer Brushes

Harm-Anton Klok

Polymer brushes have been theoretically described, their behavior under diverse conditions has been modeled, and their preparation via surface-initiated polymerizations (SIPs) has been progressively refined. However, despite three decades of research endea ...

American Chemical Society2023

Revealing the Formation Dynamics of Janus Polymer Particles: Insights from Experiments and Molecular Dynamics

Philip Robin Loche

Seeded emulsion polymerization is one of the best-known methods for preparing polymer particles with a controlled size, composition, and shape. It first requires the preparation of seed particles, which are then swollen with additional monomer (the same as ...

Amer Chemical Soc2023

Influence of the molecular weight and physical properties of a thermoplastic polymer on its dynamic wetting behavior

Valentin Rougier

The wetting dynamics of molten thermoplastic polymers, which are known to influence the force balance of the triple line, are not understood properly despite their importance in many industrial processes. In particular, the influence of the molecular weigh ...

Elsevier2023

Incorporation of Lignin in Bio-Based Resins for Potential Application in Fiber-Polymer Composites

Mário Alexandre De Jesus Garrido, Mateus De Assunção Hofmann

Bio-based resins, obtained from renewable raw materials, are a more sustainable alternative to oil-based resins for fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) composites. The incorporation of lignin in those resins has the potential to enhance their performance. This ...

MDPI2023

On-Demand Cross-Linkable Bottlebrush Polymers for Voltage- Driven Artificial Muscles

Frank Nüesch, Francis Owusu, Yeerlan Adeli

Dielectric elastomer actuators (DEAs) generate motion resembling natural muscles in reliability, adaptability, elongation, and frequency of operation. They are highly attractive in implantable soft robots or artificial organs. However, many applications of ...

AMER CHEMICAL SOC2023

DNA-based biomaterials for nanoscale controlled modulation of immune cells

Alice Comberlato

Recent advances in the field of nanomaterials demonstrated how their use for vaccination can drastically improve immune responses, mainly by enhancing delivery and uptake of vaccine components. However, our understanding of the connections between presenta ...

EPFL2022

Polymer Translocation through Nanometer Pores

Maria-Alexandra Paun

In this paper the loaded polymer transport and its escape via a nanometer size aperture, virtually by nanomembrane, the polymer being moved by an exterior electrostatic field, has been studied. Assuming a linear dependency of the friction coefficient on th ...

MDPI2022

Engineering of chitosan-based derivatives for non-viral gene delivery

Laura Camille Louise Nicolle

Gene therapy offers the possibility to treat or even cure diseases originating from genetic defects by introducing a therapeutic gene in target cells or correcting the initial defective gene. Amongst different options, non-viral vectors rely on the deliver ...

EPFL2022

Amine Functionalization in Porous Adsorbents for Carbon Capture and Conversion

Anita Justin

Metal-organic Frameworks (MOFs) are a class of crystalline porous materials with exceptionally high surface area, chemical tunability and stability. Due to alarming CO2 emission and global concern, research is focused on developing porous materials like MO ...

EPFL2022

Strategic Insights into Engineering Parameters Affecting Cell Type-Specific Uptake of DNA-Based Nanomaterials

Maartje Martina Cornelia Bastings, Alice Comberlato, Hugo José Rodriguez Franco, Marianna Mainardi Koga

DNA-based nanomaterials are gaining popularity as uniform and programmable bioengineering tools as a result of recent solutions to their weak stability under biological conditions. The DNA nanotechnology platform uniquely allows decoupling of engineering p ...

American Chemical Society2022

Molecular insights into the electrical double layer of colloidal oxide particles obtained through second harmonic scattering

Marie Bischoff

Photocatalytic applications play an essential role in the search for alternative energy sources and environmental decontamination techniques. It is of fundamental interest to understand on a molecular level the aqueous solid/liquid interface, where photoca ...

EPFL2022

Hydro-processing of biomass using novel metal-organic framework (MOF)/polymer composite catalysts

Vikram Vinayak Karve

Generating value, in the form of functional chemicals, from biomass is a critical need of today. It is expected that replacing petroleum with biomass as the source of many commodity and fine chemicals can lead the transition away from a fossil-fuel based e ...

EPFL2022

Mechanical Activation of Chemical Bonds at Polymer Interfaces

Julian Nicolas Bleich

Polymer brushes are a specific class of polymer thin films in which each chain is tethered to the underlying substrate via one chain end. In sufficiently densely grafted assemblies, the individual polymer chains are forced into an extended chain conformati ...

EPFL2021

Polymer or polycondensate based on peptide, linker and optionally other monomers and method for preparing the same

Li Tang, Lixia Wei, Yu Zhao

The present invention concerns a method for producing polymers suitable as carrier-free delivery system of bioactive molecules, in particular bioactive peptides. The method comprises the polycondensation of one or more different monomers, including monomer ...

2021

Nature-inspired Circular-economy Recycling (NaCRe) for Proteins

Simone Giaveri

Since a few decades our planet has been loaded with billion tons of synthetic polymer-based materials, commonly named plastics. The large scale of plastic production, associated with its limited recyclability, are the driving force for the accumulation of ...

EPFL2021