Research Areas
- Polymer chemistry
- Crystallization-driven self-assembly
- Precision nanomaterials
- Non-spherical nanomaterials
- Therapeutic delivery
- Cancer therapeutics
- Antimicrobial nanomedicines
Research Overview
Our research focuses on the development of new synthetic approaches to functional molecules, polymers and materials. We are interested in the synthesis and applications of chemical species that exist on length scales from 1 nanometer – 100 microns. Our current projects include Catalytic Chemistry with Main Group Substrates, Metal-Containing Polymers (Metallopolymers), and “Living” Crystallization-Driven Self-Assembly.
Our research group has been at the forefront of the development of “Living” Crystallization-Driven Self-Assembly (CDSA) of Block Copolymers and other building blocks such as planar π-stacking organic molecules and metallocycles to form well-defined colloidally-stable 1D and 2D materials with tunable dimensions, spatially controlled surface and core chemistries, and potential applications from information storage and nanoelectronics to biomedicine. A focus has been on polyferrocenylsilane block copolymers, which were developed in our group, but our more recent work has also involved block copolymers with crystallizable π-conjugated or biodegradable segments. Together with our collaborators, we are currently investigating the fundamentals of the fascinating living CDSA process and also a range of potential applications of the resulting phase-separated thin films and core-shell nanostructures (micelles) as nanowires, nanoscopic barcodes, self-assembled heterojunctions, catalysts, and as magnetic dot precursors and in drug/gene delivery.
Research Group Members
Nanotherapeutics subgroup: