Polymer Chemistry Blog

John (Jung Kwon) Oh is currently appointed as a Canada Research Chair (CRC) Tier II in Nanobioscience and an Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at Concordia University in Montreal, Canada. With BSc and MSc from Hanyang University in Korea, he earned his PhD degree from the University of Toronto in the area of polymer chemistry and materials science under the supervision of Prof. Mitchell A. Winnik. He then completed his postdoctoral research at Carnegie Mellon University with Prof. Kris Matyjaszewski, learning atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP). He has been employed at Korea Chemical Company in Korea and Dow Chemical Company in Michigan USA over 10 years.

The research in his laboratory at Concordia enables the design and processing of macromolecular nanoscale materials for biological and biomedical applications. The nanomaterials of interest consist of polymeric, organic, and inorganic materials as well as hybrids having unique structural, electronic, magnetic, and optical properties. They are prepared by well-defined synthetic organic methods, controlled polymer chemistry as well as by templating with supramolecular assemblies. In particular, his interests are the integration of nanostructured biomaterials with biomedicine to develop advanced bionanomaterials that can interface biological processes as well as to understand their biological functions. The current focus of his research is on the development of a variety of novel biomaterials for drug delivery, cellular imaging, and tissue engineering, including superparamagnetic nanogels, rapid thermoresponsive hydrogels, and self-assembled degradable block copolymer micelles

Currently, his group has seven graduate students and postdoctoral fellows. The students and postdoc in his laboratory who participate in the cutting-edge research program have the opportunity to gain a broad range of skills and knowledge in organic polymer chemistry, materials chemistry and science, and the domain of biology and biomedical engineering.

What was your inspiration in becoming a chemist?

My impression about synthetic chemistry is that a synthetic chemist is similar to a professional cook who can select appropriate and various ingredients to create new tastes. I have trained as polymer chemist and materials scientist in both industrial and academic settings. My strong desire is to integrate my synthetic skill sets with biology and biomedicine, developing new materials for biomedical research.

What was the motivation behind the research in your recent Polymer Chemistry paper? (DOI:10.1039/c2py20154b)

Toward the effective cancer-targeting drug delivery applications of amphiphilic block copolymers as multifunctional nanocarriers, the control of the release of encapsulated anticancer therapeutics is critical. My research group has focused on the new design of stimuli-responsive degradable self-assembled micelles, with different numbers and types of degradable linkages positioned at various locations. These micelles having topological variations should allow the determination of the structure-property relationship between morphological variance and stimuli-responsive degradation. Ultimately, the advanced knowledge can be leveraged into optimizing degradable micelles offering tunable release of encapsulated anticancer therapeutics inside cancer cells.

In which upcoming conferences may our readers meet you?

I regularly attend the ACS meeting in USA and will attend the 95^th Canadian Chemistry Conference and Exhibition in Calgary in Canada.

How do you spend your spare times?

I walk with my wife and love to play tennis.

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

I loved and played baseball in my childhood. Because I was born in countryside in the city of Daejeon, Korea, I did not have an great opportunity to be a baseball player in my life. If I am given to a new life, I would be a professional baseball player.

Dr. Anna Carlmark received her PhD in polymer technology in 2004 from Fibre and Polymer Technology at KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden, under the supervision of Prof. Eva Malmström. Between 2004-2007 she was employed as a researcher in several industries in Sweden (GE Healthcare AB, Gyros AB and SweTree Technologies AB) before she rejoined the group of Prof. Malmström in 2007 as an assistant professor in the division of Coating Technology at KTH. Her research focus is within the fields of controlled radical polymerization, the synthesis of complex macromolecular architectures, functional surfaces and (bio)fibre modifications. (http://www.kth.se/en/che/divisions/coating-technology)

 What was your inspiration in becoming a chemist?

Initially, I was really interested in biology, but in high school I stumble onto biochemistry which I thought was really fascinating as it explained so much about biological systems and even our own bodies. When I started university to goal was really to become a biochemist. Of course, I had no really insight into this field, and at the university I found myself much more drawn towards organic and polymer chemistry, and I found biochemistry quite tedious and boring. So I became a polymer chemist, which I have no regrets about!

What was the motivation to write this review? (DOI: 10.1039/C1PY00445J)

We (Prof Eva Malmström and I) have been working in the field of grafting cellulose by controlled radical polymerization for quite some time, actually 10 years this year, and we thought it was a nice idea to put a review together in this field. We had been talking about if for a couple of years, and so when I was invited to write a review for Polymer Chemistry it was perfect timing. I was very happy and honoured to receive the invitation!

Why did you choose Polymer Chemistry to publish your work?

Polymer Chemistry is a hot new journal that is really “up and coming”. The readers are well reflected in our research field and we thought it was the perfect choice for the review.

In which upcoming conferences may our readers meet you?

Unfortunately, I have no current plans to attend any conferences as I am having a baby in September. Usually I try to attend the ACS fall meetings, and in this case the earliest I will go will be in fall 2013.

How do you spend your spare times?  

I have two small children (ages 3 and 2) and a third on the way, so I keep myself pretty busy with the kids. We also have a country house where I love to go in the summer time. The Swedish archipelago is one of the most beautiful places in the world and a favourite place of mine, and I can warmly recommend a visit!

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

I considered becoming a nurse or physical therapist for a long time. I am very impressed with people working in medicine as I think they are true heroes. So if I was not a scientist, I think that is something that I would like to do.

Dr. Youliang Zhao was born in Shuangfeng County, Hunan Province, China, in September 1975. He received B.Sc. (1997) and M.Sc. (2000) degrees from Xiangtan University and Ph.D. in July 2003 at Institute of Chemistry, the Chinese Academy of Sciences with Prof. Fu Xi. He went to Tokyo Institute of Technology in November 2003 and worked as a JSPS Postdoctoral Fellow with Prof. Akira Hirao. From November 2005 to August 2007, he was a postdoctoral research fellow with Dr. Sébastien Perrier at University of Leeds. He became a full professor at College of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Soochow University since August 2007. He has published more than 50 peer reviewed research papers in scientific journals primarily on synthesis of complex macromolecular architectures, hybrid materials and nanocomposites by polymerization techniques such as controlled radical polymerization (CRP), ring-opening polymerization (ROP) and living anionic polymerization (LAP) and their combination with highly efficient coupling reactions. He has been invited to give lectures on his research work in international conferences as well as in some research institutions. His research interests include synthesis and properties of stimuli-responsive inorganic-organic hybrid materials, graphene-polymer nanocomposites, and functional polymers involving dendrimers, block, star, graft and hyperbranched polymers.

Please follow the link for further information on Zhao’s research group: http://www.polymer.cn/ss/zhaoyouliang/index.html or http://chemistry.suda.edu.cn/index.aspx?lanmuid=69&sublanmuid=603&id=65

What was your inspiration in becoming a chemist?

I become a chemist because of my strong interest in chemistry. Our chemistry teachers in high school always encouraged us to do some interesting chemistry experiments, which fully inspired my curiosity. The undergraduate and graduate studies further underlay my background in polymer science. I am so lucky to become a chemist that I am able to design and synthesize novel compounds and polymers, which may have potential applications in materials science and technology.

What was the motivation to write this article? (DOI:10.1039/C1PY00396H)

The motivation of this article was to develop a versatile method to prepare suprapure multicomponent block copolymers and recycle the functional solid supports. In our previous study, three types of methods comprising Z-supported RAFT graft polymerization, radical-induced chain exchange reaction, and combination of RAFT polymerization and coupling reactions were used to synthesize well-defined homopolymers and block copolymers grafted onto silica particles although the solid substrates were not recycled. In this continuous study, tandem RAFT process and CuAAC afforded better-defined block copolymer grafted silica, de-grafting process and postmodification gave access to highly pure block copolymers with terminal functionalities, and clickable silica particles were efficiently recovered until all the surface functionalities were vanished. Our study affords a versatile and general approach for surface modification, synthesis of high-purity block copolymers and recycle of clickable solid substrate, which is of great importance for “green” syntheses and development of renewable resources. We have extended this method for the fabrication of functional graphene-polymer nanocomposites.

Why did you choose Polymer Chemistry to publish your work?

Polymer Chemistry is an excellent journal which publishes high quality manuscripts in polymer science. It is natural for me to publish our best results in this journal due to its good visibility.

In which upcoming conferences may our readers meet you?

I will be in Changchun, China, during 2-6 June at the International Symposium on Polymer Chemistry (PC2012). I attend IUPAC International Conference on Novel Materials and Synthesis (NMS) & International Symposium on Fine Chemistry and Functional Polymers (FCFP) regularly and will attend NMS-VIII & FCFP-XXII to be held in Xi’An, China in October this year.

How do you spend your spare times?

When I am free, I like travelling and reading.

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

Chances are given, I may want to be a historian since the complex history always attracts me. I may also want to be a writer because of my strong interest in poem, essay and novel.

Dr. Mihaela C. Stefan is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemistry at University of Texas at Dallas. She received a BS in Chemical Engineering, and MS and Ph.D. degrees in Chemistry from Politehnica University Bucharest, Romania. She worked as a Postdoctoral Researcher in Krzysztof Matyjaszewski’s and Richard McCullough’s research groups at Carnegie Mellon University. She joined the Department of Chemistry at the University of Texas at Dallas in August 2007.  Since 2007 she has attracted 9 graduate students, 31 undergraduate students, and 3 summer high school student into her research lab.  Currently, 6 graduate students and 6 undergraduate students are working in her lab. She has published more than 40 peer-reviewed papers out of which 19 were published after joining UTD.

She received the NS&M Outstanding Teacher Award in 2009 and the Inclusive Teaching Diversity Award in 2012.  She is aslo a recipient of the Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) award from NSF, which is given to junior faculty who exemplify the role of teacher-scholars through outstanding research, excellent education and the integration of education and research. Her research group is developing novel polymeric materials for organic electronics and for drug delivery applications.  The common theme on both research directions is the interdisciplinary training of students at the interface between organic/polymer chemistry and materials science.

For more information see here: http://www.utdallas.edu/~mci071000/

What was your inspiration in becoming a chemist?

My parents were chemists and I started to visit their labs when I was only 5-6 years old. At the initial stage I was fascinated with the colors in the lab as my mom used to show me titrations. Sometimes my mom would take me to work on Saturdays because she could not take me to the kindergarten on weekends. Going to work with my mom was so much better than going to kindergarten. When I had to decide for college I choose to study chemical engineering because traditionally back in my home country when you study chemistry you prepare for a teaching career. At that time teaching was something I would have not considered as a career choice.  Now teaching is such an important part of my work and I can never imagine my life without going in the classroom to teach.

What was the motivation to write this review? (DOI: 10.1039/C1PY00453K)

I wrote the review as an invited paper for the themed issue on New Methods of Polymer Synthesis. The review describes the synthesis of block copolymers of polythiophene by Grignard metathesis (GRIM) polymerization.  My group works on the development of novel semiconducting polymers for organic electronics applications. Whenever possible we use Grignard metathesis method because it is a living polymerization which allows the control of the molecular weights and functional end groups of the semiconducting polymers.

Why did you choose Polymer Chemistry to publish your work?

Polymer Chemistry is one of the leading journals in polymer science. This is my second paper to be published in Polymer Chemistry and both times I enjoyed the fast time to publication and the fair review process.

In which upcoming conferences may our readers meet you?

I will attend the International Conference on Science and Technology of Synthetic Metals ICSM 2012 which will be held on July 8-13 in Atlanta. I will also give an invited talk to the “Young Academic Investigators” Symposia organized by the Organic Division of ACS at the Fall 2012 ACS Meeting in Philadelphia.

How do you spend your spare times?

I do not have much spare time because we are trying to work hard to build a successful research group. However, when I have time to take a break from my work I like to read biographies. I love reading biographies of scientists and I always look to buy books. I also enjoy playing with my cats. In the future I hope to find some spare time to volunteer for a shelter as I love animals, especially cats.

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

I would probably have pursued a career as a cat veterinarian if I was not a scientist.

Christophe Boisson studied chemistry at the Ecole Nationale Supérieure de Chimie de Montpellier (France). He received his PhD in Organic Chemistry from the University of Paris-Sud 11 in 1996 for investigations of the chemistry of f-metal amide complexes. The same year, he became research associate at the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) and he joined the group of Dr Roger Spitz at CPE-Lyon where he developed research in the field of copolymerization of ethylene with butadiene. In 2008, he was appointed CNRS research director at the laboratory Chemistry, Catalysis, Polymers and Processes (UMR 5265 – CNRS, CPE Lyon, University Lyon 1). His research interests are focused on homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysts for the polymerization of olefins.

Details of his research activities can be found at: http://c2p2-cpe.com/index.php

What was your inspiration in becoming a chemist?

When I was a young student, chemistry was the scientific disciplines I succeeded best. This was at first a good reason to start learning chemistry but very rapidly I was fascinating by the arrangement of atoms to make molecules and the infinite possibilities of structure creation offered by chemistry.

What was the motivation behind the research in your recent Polymer Chemistry paper (DOI: 10.1039/C2PY20063E)?

Synthetic rubbers in the tyre industry are principally based on homo- and co-polymers of butadiene. Our group has a long standing interest in the polymerization of butadiene. We have developed neodymium catalysts for stereospecific polymerization of butadiene but especially for the design of new elastomers named EBR (ethylene-butadiene rubber) bearing unique microstructures. More recently, we focused on nickel catalysts for butadiene polymerization since these complexes are less sensitive to functional groups than neodymium systems and provide opportunities to prepare new materials. In the present paper, an investigation of the activation of nickel(0) and nickel(II) precursors using a range of activators is reported and several new efficient catalysts are described. These investigations permit us to rationalize the formation of the actives species in the case of the industrial catalysts Ni(O₂CR)₂/BF₃.OEt₂/AlEt₃.

Why did you choose Polymer Chemistry to publish your work?

In the editorial of the first issue of this young journal, Prof. David Haddleton wished that “the next generation of polymer chemists see Polymer Chemistry as their own journal representing what they need from their top journal”. I think it is the case and it is a very good reason to publish my works in this journal.

In which upcoming conferences may our readers meet you?

4^th International Conference on Polyolefin Characterization (Houston – October 21-24, 2012)

International Conference on the Reaction Engineering of Polyolefins (Ferrara, Italy, June 17-20 2013 internet site :  www.incorep.org)

How do you spend your spare time?

I think it is very important to save time for family in spite of our very exiting but also time consuming research work. Playing with my children, cooking and running are my favourite spare time hobbies.

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

My father was a chef, I will certainly enjoy creating my own dishes which I could taste contrary to chemicals.

Takuya Yamamoto received his PhD in 2004 from the University of Utah where he worked with Prof. Peter J. Stang.  He joined JST ERATO Aida Nanospace Project as a researcher in 2005.  Since 2008, he has been an assistant professor of the Department of Organic and Polymeric Materials, Tokyo Institute of Technology.  He received the Tokyo Tech Young Investigator Engineering Award from Tokyo Institute of technology in 2010, Award for Encouragement of Research in Polymer Science from the Society of Polymer Science, Japan in 2011, and Challenging Research President’s Honorary Award from Tokyo Institute of Technology in 2011.  His current research interests include the synthesis and self-assembly of cyclic polymers for the development of functional materials.

For more information, see: http://www.op.titech.ac.jp/lab/tezuka/ytsite/Japanese/Members/yamamoto.html and http://www.op.titech.ac.jp/lab/tezuka/ytsite/English/Members/yamamoto.html

What was your inspiration in becoming a chemist?

Many of my relatives are related to scientific professions, and some of them are in chemistry.  Since I was small, I have had opportunity to be exposed to the state-of-the-art technology of the field, which inspired me to pursue my career in chemistry.

What was the motivation behind the research in your recent Polymer Chemistry paper? (DOI: 10.1039/C1PY00475A)

Cyclic polymers are gaining growing interest due to the distinctiveness from linear and branched counterparts by the absence of chain ends, and their unique properties often rely on the particular topology.  Furthermore, cyclic block copolymers constructed by the combination of incompatible segments may provide novel properties and functions upon self-assembly giving rise to the amplification of “topology effects”.  We previously reported that a micelle formed from a poly(butyl acrylate)-b-poly(ethylene oxide) cyclic amphiphile exhibits significantly enhanced thermal stability in comparison with one from a linear counterpart (J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2010, 132, 10251).  This finding is regarded as the first example of an amplified topology effect by a synthetic cyclic polymer upon self-assembly.

To promote further studies on the subject, the development of synthetic process for amphiphilic cyclic polymers is inevitable to provide a variety of cyclic block copolymers having the programmed combination of segment components with narrow PDIs.  In particular, amphiphilic block copolymers with polystyrene segments are of an importance due to their universality and extensive studies on self-assembled structures from linear polystyrene-b-poly(ethylene oxide).  Hence, we expected that relevant cyclic polystyrene-b-poly(ethylene oxide) counterparts could provide unique opportunities to reveal novel topology effects upon self-assembly.

Why did you choose Polymer Chemistry to publish your work?

We were invited to write a review in Polymer Chemistry (“Topological polymer chemistry: a cyclic approach toward novel polymer properties and functions”, Polym. Chem. 2011, 2, 1930), which was selected as one of the top ten most-read articles twice.  To publicize more of our research from the journal, we submitted the original paper.

In which upcoming conferences may our readers meet you?

I will attend the 61st SPSJ Annual Meeting (May 29-31 in Yokohama, Japan), Warwick 2012 (July 9-12 in Warwick, UK), and the 61st Symposium on Macromolecules, SPSJ (Sept. 19-21 in Nagoya, Japan).

How do you spend your spare times?

I jog on weekends and sometimes hang out with my friends.

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

I haven’t thought much about it.  Probably, an ordinary corporate employee.