Polymer Chemistry Blog

Prof. Xiangyang Shi graduated with a B.Sc. in chemistry from Henan Normal University, a M.E. in applied chemistry from Beijing Institute of Technology, and Ph.D. in organic chemistry from the Institute of Photographic Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences in 1992, 1995, and 1998, respectively. He worked as a Postdoctoral Fellow at Tsinghua University (1998-2000) in Beijing and Max-Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces (2000-2001) in Potsdam, Germany. He then moved to California State University, Los Angeles (2001-2002) as a visiting scholar. From 2002-2008, he worked as a Research Fellow, Research Associate II, Research Investigator, and Research Assistant Professor at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. He then became a professor of special appointment both in Donghua University and in Shanghai Institutions of High Learning (Eastern Scholar) in 2008. Since 2010, Prof. Shi has also been appointed as an Invited Chair in Nanotechnology at the University of Madeira, Funchal, Portugal. Prof. Shi has authored or coauthored more than 145 referred journal articles and 118 technical conference abstracts or proceeding papers, along with 6 invited book chapters and 9 approved patents. His current research interests include dendrimer chemistry and related nanomedicinal applications, in particular cancer diagnosis and therapy. He is also developing nanofiber-based technology with an emphasis on the synthesis and fabrication of bioscaffolding materials in tissue engineering and pharmaceutical applications and the immobilization of reactive nanoparticles within nanofibrous mats for environmental applications.

Research website: http://www3.dhu.edu.cn/rschu/professor/shixiangyang.htm

What was your inspiration in becoming a chemist?

I started to love chemistry when I was a high-school student, because chemistry course learning was always able to fullfil my curiosity. With the years, I have been enjoying very much doing research in different disciplines of chemistry, in particular in polymer chemistry, from which I am able to lead a group of students to creat new polymer-based functional materials for various biomedical and environmental applications.

What was the motivation to write your Polymer Chemistry article? (DOI: 10.1039/C2PY20993D)

With the continuation of my research work in the area of dendrimer-based nanomedicine at the Michigan Nanotechnology Institute for Medicine and Biological Sciences (headed by Prof. James R. Baker, Jr.), University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, our group has been fully involved in the creation of various dendrimer-based nanoparticles for biomedical imaging applications since 2008. In most of our earlier research, generation 5 (G5) poly(amidoamine) dendrimers were used as either templates or stabilizers to create dendrimer-entrapped gold nanoparticles or dendrimer-stabilized gold nanoparticles. The high cost of high generation dendrimers (generation > 4) really limits the practical applications of the formed dendrimer-based organic/inorganic hybrid nanoparticles.

Our group has worked on seeking a new way to create stable dendrimer/gold nanocomposite particles using low generation dendrimers. Fortunately, via a facile hydrothermal approach we are able to generate G2 dendrimer-stablized gold nanoparticles that can be further acetylated to neutralize the positive surface potential of the particles for in vivo computed tomography imaging applications.

Why did you choose Polymer Chemistry to publish your work?

Polymer Chemistry has been recognized as one of the leading journals in the area of polymer science with a high initial impact factor. We therefore thought that it would be an ideal forum for publication of our research.

In which upcoming conferences may our readers meet you?

At the 245th ACS National Meeting & Exposition, New Orleans, LA, April 7-11, 2013 (http://acs.org/meetings), at the 7th International Coference on Materials for Advanced Technilogies in Singapore, 30 June-5 July, 2013 (http://www.mrs.org.sg/icmat2013/public.asp?page=home.asp), and also at The 2013 International Conference on Advances in Nano Research, COEX, Seoul, South Korea, August 25-28, 2013 (http://anbre.cti3.com/anbre13.htm).

How do you spend your spare times?

In my spare times, my favorite activity is to travel with my family (wife, and two lovely sons, one 10 years old, and the other 8 years old).

Which profession would you choose if you were not a scientist?

I would be an accountant.

Cyrille Boyer is a guest web-writer for Polymer Chemistry. He is currently a Senior Lecturer and an ARC-Future Fellow at the Australian Centre for NanoMedicine (School of Chemical Engineering, University of New South Wales (Australia)).

Dr. Massimo Benaglia graduated in Pharmacy at the University of Bologna in 1995. He started his professional career in 1986 joining the CNR (National Research Council) as a Technical Assistant becoming a Full Researcher in 2006. Having already acquired a strong background in organic synthesis, he spent 2002 at the CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization) in Melbourne (Australia) working as a Visiting Scientist in Dr. Rizzardo’s group studying the RAFT (Reversible Addition-Fragmentation chain Transfer) process. Realizing the enormous potentialities of this technique led him to pursue his work in the controlled radical polymerization field. In 2006 he spent another year at CSIRO studying new RAFT agents with “switchable” properties and in 2007 started studying polymeric micelles obtained through the self-assembly of “pseudo-amphiphilic” block-copolymers. His current research interests focus upon the post-polymerization modifications of poly(glycidyl methacrylate) in order to obtain materials suitable for delivery of therapeutic (drugs, nucleic acids) and/or diagnostic agents (fluorescent probes).

Website: www.isof.cnr.it/?q=content/benaglia-massimo

What was your inspiration in becoming a chemist?

As a child one of my most frequent requests as a birthday present was the “Little Chemist” but I never actually received it. Later on, however, at high school, I chose chemistry as my main subject. It was actually at school that I discovered my passion for the chemistry lab doing experiments where I could “transform” something into something else. During my studies at Uni I applied for a job at the CNR (National Research Council) and when I was 21 I found myself actually working in a lab in a research group. I consider chemistry as a way of expressing my creativity since I don’t have a great artistic predisposition. Now, through studying and applying the RAFT process, I can enjoy designing and creating new materials capable of performing special and specific functions.

What was the motivation to write your Polymer Chemistry article?

The RAFT technique is a very versatile way to synthesize functional polymers with a defined architecture. The basic problem, however, is that polymerization conditions have to be optimized for each monomer/RAFT agent system. The use of glycidyl methacrylate might provide a way of overcoming this issue. Starting from the same pre-synthesized PGMA the article shows that it is possible to obtain many different kinds of polymers whose properties depend upon the nucleophilic agent chosen.

Why did you choose Polymer Chemistry to publish your work? (DOI:10.1039/C2PY20646C)

Polymer Chemistry is a journal that highlights all the novel aspects of polymer synthesis. Here, it is possible to follow the state of the art in this field. When I first came across the journal I was impressed by the high quality of the papers. Another great advantage is the very rapid review process.

In which upcoming conferences may our readers meet you?

I haven’t decided yet which conferences I will attend in 2013. I usually find small/medium-sized  conferences more fruitful in terms of scientific interactions and my choice will probably depend upon this aspect.

How do you spend your spare time?

Mostly with my relatives and friends. I like music and movies, but I also like food. Therefore, besides resting after tiring days, I go out to the cinema or to listen to live music or enjoy good food/wine in the company of friends.

Which profession would you choose if you were not a scientist?

I didn’t mention that I also like cooking and I would definitely have been a chef. I consider the “art” of cooking another very interesting way of expressing creativity with the advantage of the results being promptly verifiable, especially in a convivial way.

Kristi Kiick is a Professor of Materials Science and Engineering and a Professor of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Delaware (UD), and also serves as Deputy Dean of the UD College of Engineering.  She joined the UD faculty in August 2001.  She received a B.S. in Chemistry from the University of Delaware in 1989, and an M.S. in Chemistry as an NSF Predoctoral Fellow from the University of Georgia in 1991. In 1996, after working in industry at Kimberly Clark Corporation, she rejoined the academic ranks as a doctoral student. She received a Ph.D. in Polymer Science and Engineering from the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 2001 under the direction of David Tirrell, after completing her doctoral research as an NDSEG Fellow at the California Institute of Technology.  Her current research programs are focused on combining biosynthetic techniques, chemical methods, and bioinspired assembly strategies for the production of novel polymer architectures with advanced multifunctional behaviors. Kiick’s honors have included a Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation New Faculty Award, a Beckman Young Investigator Award, an NSF CAREER Award, a DuPont Young Professor Award.  Kiick has delivered a variety of keynote, plenary, and memorial lectureships, and serves on the editorial advisory boards of multiple journals.  She has recently been inducted into the College of Fellows of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering, has published over 80 articles and book chapters, and holds over 15 US patents.

What was your inspiration in becoming a chemist?

I first became interested in chemistry when in high school, when I was introduced to the chemical composition and behaviors of molecules. I was fascinated by the possibility of understanding events at the macroscale because of their chemical behavior at the molecular level. I have always been interested in the biological aspects of chemistry, and have been fortunate that I can combine these interests in the macromolecular problems that we study in my group’s research.

What was the motivation to write your Polymer Chemistry article?

The triggered degradation of hydrogels as a result of differences in retro Michael-type addition kinetics will hopefully be a very useful tool for our community. We have been employing traditional thiol-maleimide Michael-type addition reactions in the formation of PEG-heparin hydrogels for several years now, and have been looking at how the mechanical properties of these hydrogels can control drug delivery and cellular behavior. We use this chemistry for the same reasons that many in our field do – because of its rapid rate and selectivity and resulting product stability. When we employed aryl thiols in the formation of PEG-LMWH hydrogels via these addition reactions, however, we observed puzzling degradation behavior of the hydrogels with variations in solution conditions. This motivated us to look at the chemical details of degradation, which indicated that in these PEG-LMWH hydrogels, the retro reaction of the aryl thiol-maleimide adducts liberated free maleimide that could be captured by endogenous thiols in solution. We have been developing this approach to make hydrogels that are sensitive to reductant load, and hope that these approaches will be similarly useful to others in our community.

Why did you choose Polymer Chemistry to publish your work? (DOI:10.1039/C2PY20576A)

We have appreciated the forward-looking focus of the articles and authors in Polymer Chemistry, and the range of macromolecular chemistry approaches that are published in this journal. We thought that this audience would be the perfect one for utilizing these chemical approaches and expanding them into areas that we may not be considering.

In which upcoming conferences may our readers meet you?

I am a regular at the American Chemical Society and Materials Research Society national meetings, and also attend other polymer and biomaterials-related meetings that are more targeted in scope. I will be serving as a Meeting Chair for the Fall 2013 MRS meeting, at which we will have a range of symposia with polymer-related themes.

How do you spend your spare time?

When I am not at the University of Delaware or traveling, my husband and I spend our time with our two boys (ages 7 and 8), two dogs (ages 8 and 9), and one cat (age 17). This time is usually spent hanging around (or more often working on) the house and yard, playing games involving balls of various shapes and sizes, building things from legos, playing card games, riding bikes, and taking walks as a family. We also are trying to expose the boys to cuisines and cooking from multiple cultures, although the boys don’t (yet) enjoy this as much as my husband and I do.

Which profession would you choose if you were not a scientist?

I was a scientist in industry for a few years before I attended graduate school, and was attracted to a career in academia because I believe in the value of education to our society. If I were not in a scientific career at a research university, I would probably work either in secondary education or in social service of some kind.

Dr. Olivier Coulembier received his PhD degree from University of Mons-Hainaut (Belgium) in 2005 and joined Professor Robert M. Waymouth at the University of Stanford (United States) for his postdoctoral research in 2006.  He is currently a Research Associate by Belgian F.N.R.S. in the Laboratory of Polymeric and Composite Materials (LPCM) of Professor Philippe Dubois at University of Mons.  The objective of his research is devoted to the application of different polymerization techniques to generate original polymer materials of various topologies and issued from the macromolecular engineering fine-tuning. He has (co-)authored 62 scientific papers in international journals, 2 patents and 2 book chapters. Website: http://morris.umh.ac.be/smpc/

What was your inspiration in becoming a chemist?

Quite honestly, I didn’t fall into chemistry by real passion, I was just not really sure to fix my choice since all sciences disciplines were very interesting to me. I didn’t realize the importance of chemistry until my third year at University where polymer chemistry really peaked my interest and fed my passion. Polymer chemistry is for me the most interesting scientific field since it allows playing and creating small molecules but also fine-tune their association into simple to complex macromolecular structures and of course use a plethora of techniques to characterize them.

What was the motivation to write your Polymer Chemistry article?

In my young career, I spent almost 90% of my time to control the preparation of original polyester structures. Quite recently, by developing metal-free catalytic systems, we were able to prepare pure cyclic polyesters which proved their interest in the field by showing up physical properties different than their linear homologues.  Because people in my group are also preparing polyelectroconjugate structures, I simply wanted to merge those two activities.

Why did you choose Polymer Chemistry to publish your work? (DOI:10.1039/C2PY20647A)

Polymer Chemistry is an excellent and very promising European polymer journal. Importantly, the review process is very fast and serious.

How do you spend your spare times?

With my wife and my two daughters, of course, but also in the gym.

Which profession would you choose if you were not a scientist?

Younger, I was dreaming becoming a professional basketball player …

Prof. Shiyong Liu was born in Hubei Province, China, in 1972. He obtained his B. S. degree in 1993 and M. S. degree in 1996 from Wuhan University, majoring in environmental chemistry and polymer chemistry, respectively. After obtaining his Ph.D. degree in 2000 at Fudan University under the supervision of Prof. Ming Jiang, he spent three and a half years at University of Sussex and University of Delaware as a postdoctoral fellow, working with Prof. Steven P. Armes (currently at University of Sheffield) and Prof. Eric W. Kaler (currently at University of Minnesota), respectively. Since 2004, he has been a professor of Polymer Science and Engineering at the University of Science and Technology of China. He is recipient of 100 Talents Program (CAS, 2004), Distinguished Young Scholars Award (NSFC, 2004), Cheung Kong Professor Award (Ministry of Education of China, 2009), Chinese Chemical Society-Royal Chemical Society Young Chemist Award (2009), Young Faculty Achievement Award of USTC Alumni Foundation (2009), and Young Scientist Award (CAS, 2012). He served in the Editorial Advisory Board for Macromolecules (ACS, 2008-2010). He has served as the Head of Department of Polymer Science and Engineering since 2004 and the Director of CAS Key Laboratory of Soft Matter Chemistry since 2010. He has published over 170 peer-reviewed journal papers and 6 book chapters with a total citation of over 5000 and an H-index of 40. His current research interests include the design and synthesis of functional polymeric materials, colloids, and stimuli-responsive polymeric assemblies with controlled properties for applications in imaging, theranostics, and drug/gene nanocarriers.

Research group web site: http://staff.ustc.edu.cn/~sliu.

What was your inspiration in becoming a chemist?

My curiosity to explore and experience new things drives me to love chemistry. “To create new substances” is always exciting, as they are might be associated with previously unknown properties and un-realized functions. I enjoy the process of solving synthetic challenges and understanding underlying mechanisms.

What was the motivation to write your Polymer Chemistry article? (DOI: 10.1039/C2PY20701J)

Since 2004, we have worked on the synthesis of block copolymers of nonlinear chain topologies, which are responsive to pH and temperature and ionic strengths, focusing on the triggered assembly and disassembly and especially self-assembling kinetics via the stopped-flow technique. In the past few years, we have been working on responsive polymer-based functional materials with imaging, sensing, theranostics, and nanomedicines. In this context, to design and synthesis of polymers responsive to biologically relevant milieu (e.g., mildly acidic pH, redox potential, enzymes, etc.) is quite crucial. This motivated us to write this Polymer Chemistry article. We are currently working on bioresponsive supramolecular assemblies of polymer-drug conjugates, which can actively interact with specific tissues, micro-environments, cells, and subcellular components.

Why did you choose Polymer Chemistry to publish your work?

Polymer Chemistry is an emerging high-quality journal in synthetic polymer chemistry. Its scope fits well the current trends of functional polymeric materials. We need to acknowledge that although several fundamental scientific problems in polymer science, specifically in polymer physics, still exist, they do not represent the future directions of polymer science. Problem-solving based on challenges encountered in functional materials and their applications is more exciting and rewarding.

In which upcoming conferences may our readers meet you?

8^th International Symposium on Stimuli-Responsive Materials (October 21-23, 2012; Santa Rosa, CA).

Our CAS Key Laboratory of Soft Matter Chemistry is organizing “The 3^rd Sino-French Bilateral Seminar on Macromolecules and Soft Matter”, which will be held in Hefei, China on September 26-29, 2012. Website: http://polymer.ustc.edu.cn

How do you spend your spare times?

I am trying to spend more time with my family. My 6 year old son and I go to an aero-modeling course every Saturday afternoon. Watching TV sport games and reading are also good choices. I have kept the habit of browsing through local newspapers before getting to sleep every night, and this does not depend on whether it is 11:00 PM or 2:00 AM.

Which profession would you choose if you were not a scientist?

I might have been an economist, investment advisor, or businessman; I am quite good at “mathematics”.

I obtained my degree in Chemistry in 1998 from the University of Santiago de Compostela (Spain), where I specialised in Organic Chemistry. At the same university I undertook postgraduate studies and obtained a PhD in 2004. Under the supervision of Prof Susana López Estévez, I developed the total synthesis of several marine natural polyacetylenes with important biological properties. After that, I moved to the field of polymer chemistry and I joined the group of Prof Neil Cameron at the University of Durham (UK) in 2005. As part of the EU training network ‘SmashyBio’, we worked on the development of highly porous materials for the reversible immobilisation of biomolecules. In 2006, I returned to the University of Santiago de Compostela to work with Profs Ricardo Riguera and Eduardo Fernandez-Megia, on the development on novel dendrimeric materials for applications at the chemistry-biology interface. Since october 2009, I have been working as a research fellow in the Division of Drug Delivery and Tissue Engineering, working on the development on novel polymeric materials for drug delivery and synthetic biology.

Web-Page: http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/pharmacy/people/francisco.fernandez-trillo

What was your inspiration in becoming a chemist?

I have always found inspiration from the people that are close to me or that I know. In that regard, the first person that ‘inspired’ me to do chemistry was my mother, a chemist by training. Not only her example convinced me to do chemistry, but she has shown me the value of responsibility and hard work. In addition, through the years, I have tried to learn from the people around me, not only from my supervisors and mentors, but from the many talented co-workers and collaborators I have had the privilege to work with.

What was the motivation to write your Polymer Chemistry article? (DOI: 10.1039/C2PY20352A )

In our research group we are very interested in developing novel self-assembled materials for their application in different fields such as drug delivery, tissue culture, imaging or synthetic biology. For some of these applications, developing robust particles that can stand the different conditions that can be found for instance in the body, is of extreme importance. In this regard, polymeric vesicles offer great versatility as the properties can be tailored by a careful selection of monomers and polymerisation techniques.

Why did you choose Polymer Chemistry to publish your work?

Polymer Chemistry has become the reference journal for the synthesis of polymeric materials. Most of the key research groups in the area report their work here, and therefore we felt it was the natural journal to report ours.

In which upcoming conferences may our readers meet you?

In the next couple of months, I will be speaking at the ACS meeting in Philadelphia and the UKPhamsci conference in Nottingham, about our recent work in the development of novel antibacterial polymers.

How do you spend your spare times?

Well, like one of my former supervisors used to say in his webpage, I have 2 kids and therefore no time for luxuries such as hobbies. The truth is that I like to spend my spare time with my family, as work in academia already takes a lot of my time. Other things that I am happy to do in my spare time are reading a nice book/comic, enjoying a conversation over a pint at the pub, and like any good spaniard, discussing over a nice meal.

Which profession would you choose if you were not a scientist?

I have never gave much thought to what would I be if I was not a scientist. What I am sure is that it will have to be something creative, and probably in the engineering or technology area, as I have no talent for arts.

David A Fulton is a Lecturer at Newcastle University in the UK.  A native of the town of Kilbirnie in North Ayrshire, Scotland, he received his BSc (Hons) from Strathclyde University in 1996 and PhD in 2001 from the University of California, Los Angeles under the direction of Prof Sir J Fraser Stoddart FRS, working on cyclodextrin and supramolecular chemistry. After a brief spell in industry he then spent two and half years as a postdoctoral research associate with Prof David Parker FRS at the University of Durham working on the synthesis of gadolinium-centered dendrimers as new MRI contrast agents.  In 2006 he moved up the road to Newcastle to take up his present position within the School of Chemistry, where he went about establishing a polymer chemistry laboratory.  His research interests are focused on using synthetic polymer chemistry to address problems in medicine, nanoscience and materials science.

His group webpage can be found at: www.dafresearchgroup.com.

What was your inspiration in becoming a chemist?

I was always interested in science as a child, and when I got to high school chemistry was by far my favourite and best subject, and that led me to study chemistry at degree level and beyond.  Perhaps a more interesting question is why my research interests focus on polymer chemistry when my background is in cyclodextrin chemistry (PhD work) and MRI contrast agents (Postdoctoral work)!  Firstly, the advances in synthetic polymer chemistry over the last 15 years or so really caught my attention.  I’d always had some interest in large molecules, and here were methods to easily prepare them with surprisingly high levels of precision, and I felt I would be able to do some useful work with these synthetic methods.  Secondly, but perhaps more importantly, because polymers are ubiquitous in the world around us, I felt there would be more opportunities to become involved with research projects tackling real-world problems.  Because of these reasons, when I got my independent appointment at Newcastle in 2006 I decided to initiate a research program in polymer chemistry.  It’s been a steep learning curve moving into a new field, but I think my group have made good progress over the last three-four years.

What was the motivation to write your Polymer Chemistry article (entitled: “Investigating templating within Polymer-Scaffolded Dynamic Combinatorial Libraries“, DOI:10.1039/C2PY20600E)?

We became intrigued by the possibility of making wholly-synthetic analogues of natural proteins.  Since I’d been following the developing field of dynamic combinatorial chemistry since my PhD days, I thought it would be interesting to try to take principles from this field and apply them towards the discovery of synthetic macromolecules which may possess molecular-recognition properties.  We developed the concept of the “polymer-scaffolded dynamic combinatorial library (PS-DCL), and with generous funding from EPSRC we’re seeing just how far we will be able to take this concept.  This article helps us understand better how some important structural factors of the polymer scaffold influence how the libraries respond to the addition of templates, and is an important step forward in our development of the concept.

Why did you choose Polymer Chemistry to publish your work?

The most important reason is that I feel that many polymer chemists actually follow the journal and therefore it would be more likely that people might read our article.  Furthermore, although this is only my second article in Polymer chemistry, I’ve found that our manuscripts have been processed very swiftly and fairly with surprisingly thorough peer-reviewing.  These are important factors when considering where to send a manuscript which members of your research group have put a huge amount of effort into.  Finally, I think the journal is also publishing some very nice work, and this will help increase the prestige of the title.

In which upcoming conferences may our readers meet you?

I can take this an opportunity to plug a session which I am co-organizing with Brent Sumerlin at the ACS spring meeting in Dallas 2014 on the utilization and exploitation of dynamic covalent bonds in polymer science.  Next year I will probably try to get to the European Polymer Federation meeting in Pisa.

How do you spend your spare times?

As the father of a one-year old daughter, I rarely have free time.  When I’m not at work I’m usually doing things with my wife and daughter.  I still try to play soccer every Friday evening with the PhD students and postdocs who work in my building, but I find that they constantly stay around the same age of twenty-something whilst I get older every year.

Which profession would you choose if you were not a scientist?

It’s easy to think of the professions I wouldn’t want to do, but harder to think of the ones where I would have the required levels of talent and drive to be able to make a living.  I think I have a good enough feel for numbers and just enough creativity that I could probably do something connected with money and finance.

Professor Greg Qiao received his B.Eng. in Polymer Engineering at East China University in 1982 and his Ph.D. at the University of Queensland in 1996 on synthetic organic chemistry.  He then worked as a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Melbourne, when he entered the field of synthetic polymer chemistry and engineering. He became a Lecturer in the Department of Chemical and Bimolecular Engineering in 2002, then promoted to a Senior Lecturer in 2004, Associate Professor and Reader in 2007 and a full professor in 2009.  Since 2012, he has been an ARC’s professorial Future Fellow. He has also been appointed as the Assistant Dean (Research) in the Melbourne School of Engineering since 2009.

Professor Qiao was elected as a Fellow of Royal Australia Chemical Institute (FRACI) in 2006. He was awarded a Freehills Award by IchemE in Australia, Royal Australia of Chemical Institute (RACI) and Engineering Australia for excellence in the field of chemical engineering in 2010 and RACI’s Polymer Division Citation for service to Polymer Division and distinguished research achievements in the field of synthetic polymer chemistry in 2012.

Professor Qiao currently leads a Polymer Research Group of ~ 20 people and his research interests has been in the synthesis of novel macromolecular architectures by controlled polymerizations, polymeric membranes for gas separations, functional polymers for specific applications in mineral, paint, packaging, water and special composite industry, and biomacromolecular scaffolds for soft tissue engineering. He has published more than 100 journal papers and is the inventor for more than 20 patents. He is also on the advisory board of Melbourne Neuroscience Institute, and two international journals, “Macromolecular Bioscience” and “Macromolecular Materials & Engineering”.

Group weblink: http://www.chemeng.unimelb.edu.au/polymerscience/index.html

What was your inspiration in becoming a chemist?

When I was a child, I always dreamed of one day becoming a scientist. When I was at school, my initial choice of study was electrical engineering. However, as I was doing very well in chemistry, I ended up majoring in chemistry and chemical engineering during my university years. I subsequently completed a Ph.D in organic chemistry before returning to chemical engineering to focus on synthetic polymer chemistry and engineering. I really love polymer chemistry, as I think it is a scientific tool that can change society and improve quality of life.

What was the motivation to write your Polymer Chemistry article? (entitled ‘Factors Influencing the Growth and Topography of Nanoscale Films Fabricated by ROMP-Mediated Continuous Assembly of Polymers’, DOI: 10.1039/C2PY20692G )

In collaboration with Frank Caruso and several early career researchers, we have recently developed a new ultra-thin film fabrication technology termed Continuous Assembly of Polymers (CAP). The key concept of this process involves a single-step growth of a cross-linked film from a substrate functionalised with initiating sites via controlled polymerization methodologies; such as, ring-opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP) (Small, 2011, p2863), atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) (Chem. Comm., 2011, p12601) or photo-triggered iniferter polymerization (ACS Macro Lett., 2012, p1020). The CAP process is surface confined, allows precise control of the film thicknesses and can be applied to planner substrates or particle surfaces; the latter allowing the formation of hollow capsules following the removal of particle templates.

If we consider the polymerisation of a monomer from an initiator functionalised surface (grafting-from), we can imagine an idealised structure of unidirectional polymer chains perpendicular to the surface, like a ‘toothbrush’. In comparison, the CAP process employs macrocross-linkers (polymers with multiple pendent monomer groups) rather than monomers and as a result generates a cross-linked 3D polymeric network consisting of polymer chains both perpendicular and horizontal to the surface simultaneously, like ‘steel wool’. Since the perpendicular and horizontal chains are derived from the pendent monomer groups and macrocross-linker backbone, respectively, it is possible to prepare films with different compositional layers via the sequential addition of different macrocross-linkers, in a similar fashion that block copolymer grafts can be prepared by the stepwise addition of different monomers.

One of the distinguishing advantages of the CAP process is that it provides access to films derived from natural polymers, which is difficult to achieve using conventional methods. As long as an existing polymer, either synthetic or naturally occurring, can be functionalized with a monomer to generate a macrocross-linker, the CAP process can be performed to convert these polymers into cross-linked 3D films. This development has wide implications, as the films formed can be readily engineered using a diverse range of polymers (synthetic and biological) and controlled polymerisation methodologies, making it of relevance to physical and life science applications.

Why did you choose Polymer Chemistry to publish your work?

Our manuscript published in Polymer Chemistry is the 1^st full paper on the CAP process using ROMP. Polymer Chemistry is a very successful and exciting new journal, which provides a forum for publishing high quality synthetic polymer science and boasts a very quick review process. It also reaches a broad readership from various disciplines.

In which upcoming conferences may our readers meet you?

I have attended the last 10 Australasia Polymer Symposiums (APS) and will be attending the upcoming APS with no exception. The next APS will be the 34^th and will be held in beautiful Darwin in the Northern Territory of Australia from July 7-10, 2013 (http://www.34aps.org.au).

How do you spend your spare times?

I enjoy reading a good article with a completely fresh mind.

Which profession would you choose if you were not a scientist?

Politician or public servant.