NU-MRSEC 2009 Distinguished Speaker Series

"Materials Research on Functional Polymer Materials –
Using Synthesis to Enable Assembly, Conjugation, and Encapsulation."

Todd Emrick

Department of Polymer Science and Engineering
University of Massachusetts at Amherst

Thursday, December 17, 11:00 a.m.

Ryan 4003
2190 Campus Drive
Evanston Campus

This presentation will describe the functionalization of nanoparticles and polymers to give functional materials and assemblies that span applications ranging from materials repair to cancer therapeutics.  The talk will consist of two parts.  Part 1 will briefly describe the Materials Research Science and Engineering Center at the University of Massachusetts, and highlight an interdisciplinary research effort geared towards nanoparticle synthesis, functionalization, and interfacial assembly that has led to a rich new array of nanoparticle-based assemblies, encapsulants, and electronic materials.  Part 2 will describe synthetic efforts geared towards the preparation of amphiphilic and hydrophilic polymers and nanoparticles, including grafted aliphatic polyesters intended for cancer therapeutics, zwitterionic polymers intended for protein therapeutics, and grafted cationic polyolefins intended for gene therapy.

Host: Professor SonBinh Nguyen, Chemistry