4th Zing Polymer Chemistry Conference

The 4th Zing Polymer Chemistry Conference will be held on 10 – 13 December 2014 in Riviera Maya, Mexico, venue to be confirmed.

The field of polymer chemistry has experienced rapid growth over the last decade as a result of the expansion of synthetic techniques that have facilitated the realization of previously inaccessible materials. Macromolecules with complex structures and a diverse array of functionality can now be prepared with controlled molecular weights and precise architectures. Advances in the area of polymer physical chemistry and characterization have generated new insight into the structure-reactivity and structure-property relationships that govern the preparation and applications of new polymeric materials. The conference will focus on recent developments in the area of polymer synthesis and characterization and the application of polymeric materials in a variety of fields, including medicine and medical devices, smart materials, coatings, personal care products, structural materials, and many other areas. Researchers in polymer chemistry, materials science, chemical engineering, biomedical engineering and all others interested in learning more about the fundamental chemical principles governing polymer properties and behavior are encouraged to attend.

Abstract submission can be found here
Talk Consideration Deadline: 20th August 2014……..Poster Submission Deadline: 19th September 2014

For more information regarding this conference please see here.

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Paper of the week: Optimising the enzyme response of a porous silicon photonic crystal

There is a need for devices that can detect various biological species for the development of biotechnology and medical diagnostics. For instance, it is important to measure the activity of enzymes like proteinases released from cells for the understanding of fundamental cell biology and biomedical applications. One class of the proteinases is the matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) which are known to be released by cells as part of their normal tissue remodelling processes, such as embryonic development and cell migration. Currently, the most common proteinase activity measurements are performed by fluorogenic or calorimetric methods with commercially available proteinase assay kits. Enzymatic responsive polymers have also been developed as sensing elements in biological devices.

Graphical abstract: Optimising the enzyme response of a porous silicon photonic crystal via the modular design of enzyme sensitive polymers

In this work, Gooding and co-workers have demonstrated a generic approach to optimize the sensing capability of porous silicon through a modular polymer conjugation strategy where the surface of the  porous silicon (PSi) was first modified with an antifouling polymer, then an enzyme cleavable link was added which bridged the antifouling polymer and a second sacrificial polymer that was lost upon enzyme cleavage of the peptide. Cleavage of the peptide–polymer network by the appropriate proteinase decreases the average refractive index of the photonic crystal resulting in a change in the reflectivity peak to lower wavelengths (blue-shift). The PSi–polymer constructs were shown to have selectivity towards different MMP enzymes. The approach could easily be tailored for different chemical/biochemical moieties, thus increasing the potential of such smart surfaces for biosensor applications. These structures could be easily expanded for other proteinase enzymes by simply changing the specific peptide sequences.

Optimising the enzyme response of a porous silicon photonic crystal via the modular design of enzyme sensitive polymers by Alexander H. Soeriyadi, Bakul Gupta, Peter J. Reece and J. Justin Gooding Polym. Chem. 2014, 5, 2333-2341.

Julien Nicolas is a web-writer and advisory board member for Polymer Chemistry. He currently works at Univ. Paris-Sud (FR) as a CNRS researcher.

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Magnetic field and pH synergy controls therapeutic burst

Written for Chemistry World by Richard Massey

Australian researchers have shown how alternating magnetic fields could be used to localise the release of cancer-fighting drugs to cancer cells, limiting side effects in the rest of the body.

May Lim at the University of New South Wales, and colleagues, have devised a system where a magnetite (Fe3O4) nanoparticle is bound to a temperature-responsive polymer onto which drug molecules can be attached via Schiff base bonds.

A magnetic field combined with the acidic environment of cancer tissue results in rapid hydrolysis of the Schiff base bond

A magnetic field combined with the acidic environment of cancer tissue results in rapid hydrolysis of the Schiff base bond

Interested? Read the full article at Chemistry World.

Spatial and temporal control of drug release through pH and alternating magnetic field induced breakage of Schiff base bonds
Alexander E. Dunn, Douglas J. Dunn, Alexander Macmillan, Renee Whan, Tim Stait-Gardner, William S. Price, May Lim and  Cyrille Boyer
Polym. Chem., 2014, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C4PY00150H

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Paper of the week: Crystallization-driven self-assembly of polyferrocenylsilane diblock copolymers

Extensive research has been performed in the field of block copolymer synthesis and their self-assembly in block-selective solvents in order to provide routes for the design and synthesis of nanostructures with desirable properties. Block copolymers have been self-assembled into a vast range of micellar nanostructures whose morphologies include spheres, tapes and vesicles as well as many other more complex shapes. Recently, investigations into the self-assembly of polyferrocenylsilane (PFS)-containing block copolymers have led to the preparation of cylinders of controlled length. Furthermore, block co-micelles with segmented coronal chemistries can also be prepared through the crystallization-driven self-assembly (CDSA) of one PFS-containing block copolymer from cylindrical micelles of another. To date, the vast majority of studies of the CDSA of PFS block copolymers have focused on examples with a non-polar corona-forming block.

Graphical abstract: Synthesis and crystallization-driven solution self-assembly of polyferrocenylsilane diblock copolymers with polymethacrylate corona-forming blocks

In order to increase the range of coronal chemistries available for CDSA protocols a series of highly asymmetric diblock copolymers comprising a PFS block and a polymethacrylate coblock (poly(tert-butylmethacrylate) (PtBMA), poly(n-butylmethacrylate) (PnBMA), and poly(N,N-dimethylaminoethylmethacrylate) (PDMAEMA), were synthesized by sequential living anionic polymerization. Self-assembly of these block copolymers in acetone yielded cylindrical micelles with a crystalline PFS core and a polymethacrylate corona. The cylindrical micelles were fragmented by sonication and the short micelles were successfully used as “seed initiators” to grow longer monodisperse cylindrical micelles with controlled lengths from added unimers via crystallization-driven living self-assembly. Block co-micelles were also prepared by the sequential addition of unimers with a different coronal block to pre-existing cylinders. These nanostructures could be potentially used as scaffolds for the directed deposition of nanoparticles or for electrostatically-induced organization into hierarchically ordered nanomaterials.

Synthesis and crystallization-driven solution self-assembly of polyferrocenylsilane diblock copolymers with polymethacrylate corona-forming blocks by Nina McGrath, Felix H. Schacher, Huibin Qiu, Stephen Mann, Mitchell A. Winnik and Ian Manners Polym. Chem. 2014, 5, 1923-1929.

Julien Nicolas is a web-writer and advisory board member for Polymer Chemistry. He currently works at Univ. Paris-Sud (FR) as a CNRS researcher.

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Paper of the week: Novel photoinitiators for click chemistry

The emergence of the Click Chemistry concept has led to the identification of a set of highly efficient, reliable and selective reactions that readily meet the demands and desires for the synthesis of new materials. Specifically, the copper catalyzed azide–alkyne cycloaddition (CuAAC) reaction has been prominently established as the ideal click reaction due to its simplicity, orthogonality and regioselectivity relative to other organic reactions. Unlike conventional CuAAC approaches using Cu(I) salts, reducing agents, or copper turnings, a photo-mediated technique for generating Cu(I) in situ affords comprehensive spatial and temporal control of the CuAAC reaction, wherein the generation of Cu(I) is limited to selectively irradiated regions in both time and space. In addition to the spatiotemporal control, the photo-induced CuAAC reaction offers a facile means to control the reaction rate simply by changing the light intensity or photoinitiator concentration.

Graphical abstract: Evaluation and development of novel photoinitiator complexes for photoinitiating the copper-catalyzed azide–alkyne cycloaddition reaction

In this paper, Bowman and co-workers demonstrated both spatial and temporal control over the CuAAC by the photo-induced generation of the active form of the catalyst Cu(I) to initiate the CuAAC reaction. Tertiary aliphatic amine ligands were used as an electron transfer species to reduce Cu(II) upon irradiation while also functioning as an accelerating agent and as protecting ligands for the Cu(I). Moreover, this catalyst system was demonstrated to be effective, adaptable to organic and aqueous media, and highly selective to the CuAAC reaction.

Evaluation and development of novel photoinitiator complexes for photoinitiating the copper-catalyzed azide–alkyne cycloaddition reaction by Abeer A. Alzahrani, Annette H. Erbse and Christopher N. Bowman Polym. Chem. 2014, 5, 1874-1882.

Julien Nicolas is a web-writer and advisory board member for Polymer Chemistry. He currently works at Univ. Paris-Sud (FR) as a CNRS researcher.

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Introducing our new Advisory Board members (2)

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 (MOE, 2009), CCS-RSC Young Chemist Award (2010), and Young Scientist Award (CAS, 2012). He has served in the International Advisory Board for Macromol. Rapid Commun. and Macromol. Chem. Phys. (2012-) and 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 published over 190 peer-reviewed journal papers and 6 book chapters with a total citation of 6500 and an H-index of 47. 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, sensing, diagnostics, and nanomedicines.


Timothy Long received his B. S. in 1983 from St. Bonaventure University, followed by his Ph.D. in 1987 from Virginia Tech. He spent several years as a research scientist at Eastman Kodak Company before returning to Virginia Tech as a professor in chemistry. He has been a faculty member in the department of chemistry since 1999 and recently served as Associate Director of Interdisciplinary Research and Education, Fralin Life Science Institute at Virginia Tech. He serves currently as the Associate Dean for Research and International Outreach in the College of Science at Virginia Tech.
He has received many prestigious honors in his field of polymer chemistry recently, including Chair of the IUPAC MACRO2012 Congress at Virginia Tech, the American Chemical Society (ACS) PMSE Cooperative Research Award and POLY Mark Scholar Award, as well as the Pressure Sensitive Tape Council (PSTC) Carl Dahlquist Award in 2011, Virginia Tech’s Alumni Award for Research Excellence (AARE) in 2010, 2009 ACS Fellow, and invited organizer of the Gordon Research Conference – Polymers, and Chair, ACS Polymer Division.
He has also assembled a successful interdisciplinary research group and has been awarded ~ $30M in research funding during his time with Virginia Tech. His group’s continuing research goal is to integrate fundamental research in novel macromolecular structure and polymerization processes with the development of high performance macromolecules for advanced technologies. Current research efforts focus on polyelectrolytes, ion-containing polymers, and supramolecular hydrogen bonding for emerging technologies including drug delivery, elastomers, water purification, adhesives, and energy storage.

Ramakrishnan completed his BSc from the University of Bombay, MSc from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay and received his PhD from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, in 1988. After a two-year postdoctoral stint at the Corporate Research Laboratory of Exxon Research and Engineering Company at Annandale, New Jersey, he took up a faculty position in the Department of Inorganic and Physical Chemistry at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, where he is currently the chair of the Division of Chemical Sciences. His research interests are in the design and development of novel polymerization methods, hyperbranched polymers, polymerizable surfactants, polymerization in ordered media, understanding and regulating conformation of synthetic macromolecules in solution and conjugated polymers. He is currently serves as one of the Associate Editors of Chemical Communications.

Martina Stenzel studied chemistry at the University of Bayreuth, Germany, before completing her PhD in 1999 at the Institute of Applied Macromolecular Chemistry, University of Stuttgart, Germany. After two years as postdoctoral researcher at UNSW, she took on a position as a lecturer at the University of New South Wales in 2002 and is now an ARC Future Fellow and Professor. Her research interest is focused on the synthesis of functional polymers with complex architectures such as glycopolymers and other polymers for biomedical applications, especially polymers with in-build metal complexes for the delivery of metal-based anti-cancer drugs. Martina Stenzel published more than 200 highly cited peer reviewed papers mainly on RAFT polymerization. She is an editor of the Australian Journal of Chemistry and also serves on several editorial advisory boards. She is currently a member of the ARC College of experts, which is the Australian Government funding agency. She received a range of awards including the 2011 Le Fèvre Memorial Prize, the 2013 Exxon Mobile award and a 2013 NSW Science and Engineering award. Martina enjoys spending time with her family exploring the Australian outdoors or the indoors (museums).

Per Zetterlund graduated from The Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm (Sweden) in 1994 and obtained his Ph.D. at Leeds University (UK) in 1998.  He carried out postdoctoral research at Griffith University (Brisbane, Australia) and in 1999, he became Assistant Professor at Osaka City University (Japan).  In 2003, he moved to Kobe University (Japan), where he was promoted to Associate Professor in 2005.  Since 2009, he has worked at The Centre for Advanced Macromolecular Design (CAMD) at The University of New South Wales (Sydney, Australia), where he is currently a full Professor and co-Director of the Centre.  Prof Zetterlund has published around 130 peer-reviewed papers, mainly in the areas of (controlled/living) radical polymerization and polymeric nanoparticle synthesis using a variety of heterogeneous systems.

Wai-Yeung Wong was born in Hong Kong, and obtained his B.Sc.(Hons.) (1992) and Ph.D. (1995) degrees from The University of Hong Kong. He did his postdoctoral research with Prof. F. Albert Cotton at Texas A&M University in 1996 and Profs. Lord Lewis and Paul R. Raithby at the University of Cambridge in 1997. He joined Hong Kong Baptist University as an Assistant Professor in 1998, rising through the academic ranks to Chair Professor in early 2011. His research focuses on synthetic inorganic/organometallic/polymer chemistry and materials chemistry, with special emphasis on developing metallopolymers and metallophosphors with energy functions and photofunctional properties. He has a distinguished publication record of over 400 articles with his current H-index of 54. He has won the Royal Society of Chemistry Chemistry of the Transition Metals Award in 2010, FACS Distinguished Young Chemist Award in 2011, Ho Leung Ho Lee Foundation Prize for Scientific and Technological Innovation and Second-class Prize of State Natural Science Award in China in 2013. He is currently the Associate Editor of Journal of Materials Chemistry C and Regional Editor of Journal of Organometallic Chemistry, and serves on the editorial/international advisory boards of numerous international journals including Polymer Chemistry, Dalton Transactions, Dyes and Pigments, Chemistry: An Asian Journal, Macromolecular Rapid Communications, Macromolecular Chemistry & Physics, etc. At present, he is the Chairman of Hong Kong Chemical Society and a Council Member of the Pacific Polymer Federation.


Yoshiki Chujo completed his PhD at Kyoto University in 1980 and then joined Nagoya University as an Assistant Professor in 1981. In 1983, he joined the group of Prof. J. E. McGrath at Virginia Tech in the USA as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow. He returned to Kyoto University as a Lecturer in 1986 and has been Professor of Polymer Chemistry there since 1994. His research interests focus on polymer synthesis, inorganic polymers, and polymeric hybrid materials. He is now a Vice-President of the Chemical Society of Japan.  He is a Leader of the national research project on “New Polymeric Materials Based on Element-Blocks” (2012-16).


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Introducing our new Advisory Board Members (1)

We asked some of our new Polymer Chemistry Advisory Board members to tell us a little more about themselves …

Franck D’Agosto first studied chemistry at the National School of Chemistry in Mulhouse (France). He then moved to Lyon (France) where he received his PhD in Polymer Chemistry from the University of Lyon on the design of multifunctional polymer architectures for the fixation of biological molecules. From 2001 to 2002, he was a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Key Center for Polymer Colloids in Sydney (Australia). He developed strategies to obtain original latex particles by combining controlled radical polymerization and polymerization in dispersed media. In March 2002, he joined the Laboratory of Chemistry, Catalysis, Polymers and Processes (C2P2) at the University of Lyon as a CNRS Researcher. His research interests focus on polymerization in aqueous dispersed media and on amphiphilic block copolymers. He also develops a research on the design of reactive polyolefin building blocks using ethylene, coordination insertion polymerization and original chemistries.


Todd Emrick is a Professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and Director of the National Science Foundation supported Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC) on Polymers at UMass.  He completed his Ph.D. in organic chemistry at the University of Chicago in 1997, working on small molecule synthesis and the C-C coupling chemistry of strained hydrocarbons, then transitioned to polymer research (1997-2000) as a postdoctoral associate at U Cal Berkeley.  Emrick’s independent career at UMass began in 2001, and he has since been promoted to full professor, with active projects in the areas of new monomer and polymer synthesis, nanoscale polymer-based materials for therapeutics (gene and cancer drug delivery), electronically active polymers and nanocomposites, surfactants in solution, and environmentally friendly plastics and adhesives.  Emrick has published over 180 papers during his independent career, and is a Fellow of the Polymer Materials Science and Engineering (PMSE) Division of the American Chemical Society, and a 2013 Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors.


Thomas Epps is the Thomas and Kipp Gutshall Associate Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the University of Delaware (UD) with a joint appointment in Materials Science and Engineering.  He received his B.S. and M.S. degrees in Chemical Engineering from MIT in 1998 and 1999, respectively.  He received his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Minnesota in 2004; he then joined NIST as a National Research Council Postdoctoral Fellow.  Dr. Epps joined UD in the summer of 2006.
His research interests include nanostructured assemblies for targeted drug delivery, polymeric materials for bio-separation and ion-conduction membranes, catalytic applications, and surface responsive polymer films.  Dr. Epps has received several honors and awards including: the Sigma Xi Young Investigator Award (2014); the Martin Luther King, Jr. Visiting Professor of Chemistry at MIT (2012); the UD Alison Society, Gerard J. Mangone Young Scholars Award (2011); the DuPont Young Professor Grant Award (2010); the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) (2009); the Air Force Young Investigator Award (2008); and a National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER Award (2007) among others.  Dr. Epps also is on the editorial advisory boards of Macromolecules, ACS Macro Letters and, now, Polymer Chemistry.

Nikos Hadjichristidis received his BSc from the University of Athens, Greece, and his PhD from the University of Liege, Belgium. He did postdoctoral research at the National Research Council of Canada and the University of Akron. In 1988 he became Professor and in 2010 Emeritus Professor at the University of Athens, Department of Chemistry. Since September 2011 he has been a Professor of Chemical Sciences at KAUST.
He has received many awards including: the ACS PMSE A. K. Doolittle Award (2003), the International Award of the Society of Polymer Science, Japan (SPSJ, 2007), the ACS PMSE Cooperative Research Award (2010) and the ACS, Rubber Division, Chemistry of Thermoplastic Elastomers Award (2011).  He has Honorary Degrees (Doctorate Honoris Causa) from the University Simon Bolivar, Caracas, Venezuela (2010) and the University of Ioannina, Greece (2010). His research interest focuses mainly on the synthesis and properties of model polymers and he has published more than 450 papers in referred scientific journals, 16 patents, four books (editor), and is the author of one book on Block Copolymers (Wiley 2003).

Feihe Huang was born in China in 1973. He obtained his degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (VT) under the guidance of Prof. Harry W. Gibson in March 2005. Then he joined Prof. Peter J. Stang’s group at University of Utah as a postdoc. Now he is Qiushi Chair Professor at Zhejiang University. His current main research interests are supramolecular polymers and pillararenes. The awards he received up to now include the William Preston Award for his MS thesis from VT, the 2004 Chinese Government Award for Outstanding Self-Financed Students Abroad, The Sigma Xi Research Award for PhD Degree Candidates from VT Chapter of Sigma Xi Research Society, Outstanding PhD Dissertation Award from VT, Thieme Chemistry Journals Award, the Outstanding Recent Graduate Alumnus Award from VT, and Humboldt Fellowship for Experienced Researchers. His publications have been cited more than 4575 times with an h-index of 41. He has been a guest editor of Chem Soc Rev, Acc Chem Res, Chem Rev, and Chem Commun. He sits on the Advisory Boards of Chem Soc Rev (2012-), Chem Commun (2012-), Acta Chim Sinica (2012-), Macromolecules (2014-), ACS Macro Lett (2014-), and now Polym Chem.

Ming Jiang graduated from the Chemistry Department at Fudan University, China in 1960. Since then he has served within the Chemistry, Materials and Macromolecular Science Departments at Fudan University as an assistant, lecturer, and then as associate professor. He was promoted to professor in 1988. Professor Jiang was also a visiting scientist at the University of Liverpool, UK from 1979 to 1981.
Professor Jiang was elected Member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2005. He has been a Fellow of Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC) since 2009. He has published over 250 papers in polymer science. He is the deputy-chief-editor of the Chemical Journal of Chinese Universities and also a board member of Macromolecular Rapid Communications. He is also director of the Academy Committee of Key National Laboratory of Molecular Engineering of Polymers. His research is mainly in the physical chemistry of polymers and supramolecular chemistry with emphasis on macromolecular self-assembly.

UPDATE: Find more Advisory Board member profiles HERE


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Paper of the week: Voltage-responsive micelles

Stimuli-responsive systems composed of intelligent polymers can undergo physical or chemical changes, such as gel–sol transitions or a change in size or volume, as a response to external stimuli, such as light, pH, temperature, redox reactions and so on. They have attracted much attention for their wide application in the field of medical materials and nano machines. Among the possible stimuli, electrical stimuli are considered to be significantly attractive. The electron transfer reaction is one of the simplest types of chemical reactions, and is reasonably well understood from a theoretical standpoint. When conducting electrical stimuli, a certain magnitude of voltage or current is applied to induce a redox reaction of the host or guest molecules.

Graphical abstract: Voltage-responsive micelles based on the assembly of two biocompatible homopolymers

In this paper, Yuan and co-workers  reported on voltage-responsive micelles based on the assembly of two biocompatible homopolymers, namely; poly(ethylene glycol) homopolymer modified with β-cyclodextrin (PEG–β-CD) and poly(L-lactide) homopolymer modified with ferrocene (PLLA–Fc). Through host–guest interactions between β-CD and Fc, the two homopolymers connect together, forming a non-covalent supramolecular block copolymer PLLA–Fc/PEG–β-CD. PLLA–Fc/PEG–β-CD can further self-assemble to form stable micelles in aqueous solution. Through electrochemical control, a reversible assembly–disassembly transition of this micellar system was realized and voltage-controlled drug release based on this system was also conducted successfully using paclitaxel as the anticancer agent.

Voltage-responsive micelles based on the assembly of two biocompatible homopolymers by Liao Peng, Anchao Feng, Huijuan Zhang, Hong Wang, Chunmei Jian, Bowen Liu, Weiping Gao and Jinying Yuan Polym. Chem. 2014, 5, 1751-1759.

Julien Nicolas is a web-writer and advisory board member for Polymer Chemistry. He currently works at Univ. Paris-Sud (FR) as a CNRS researcher.

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Polymer Chemistry Insight day: Healthcare to Solar Cells

On Thursday 22nd May 2014, the Warwick Polymer Club will be hosting a one-day international meeting ‘Polymer Chemistry: Healthcare to Solar Cells‘.
Held at the University of Warwick, this is an excellent opportunity to hear talks from international experts in the field of polymer chemistry, including:
  • Sebastien Perrier (University of Warwick)
  • Brent Summerlin (University of Florida)
  • Professor Wenping Hu (ICCAS, Beijing)
  • Professor Heather Maynard (UCLA)
  • Professor Christopher Barner-Kowollik (Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT))
  • Professor Wei You (University of North Carolina)
  • Professor Eva Harth (Vanderbilt University)
  • Professor Benzhong Tang (The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST))

Topics will cover the latest developments in the sector in all aspects of healthcare to solar cells, ranging from therapeutic aspects/nanomedicine to OPV’s/conducting polymers.

Better yet, the event is FREE to attend! And, if required, overnight accommodation is available in the University’s award winning on-campus conference accommodation.

To attend, please register on the Polymer Club website. More information about the event and speaker biographies are also available here.
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Paper of the week: Variable conformation pH responsive block copolymers for drug delivery

Polymeric carriers offer many advantages for controlled release applications, drug delivery and nanomedicine. These systems need to be water-soluble, non-toxic and non-immunogenic, as well as compatible with serum components. For most applications, polymer based delivery systems must also be capable of being either degraded to harmless breakdown products or eliminated entirely from the body. Furthermore, these carriers need functional groups that allow them to interact with or encapsulate a drug of interest, and preferably should contain recognition motifs, which target disease-related antigens or receptors. Not surprisingly, the combination of these factors is hard to achieve with existing materials, leading to an urgent need for new highly functional and active biomedical polymers.

Graphical abstract: Synthesis and characterization of variable conformation pH responsive block co-polymers for nucleic acid delivery and targeted cell entry

In this article, Vicent, Salmaso, Alexander and co-workers prepared a modular and effective controlled release system, based on polymers designed to respond to the pH-changes that occur in tissues affected by peculiar disease. The individual blocks were composed of (a) permanently hydrophilic chains with neutral functionality and (b) acrylate polymers with weakly basic side-chains. Variation in co-monomer content, molar mass and block ratios/compositions led to a range of pH-responses, manifested through reversible self-assembly into micelles and/or polymersomes. These transitions were tuned to achieve environmental responses in a pH range from 5–7. The ability of the systems assembled with these polymers to act as pH-responsive containers was shown by DNA encapsulation and release studies, and their potential for application as vehicle for drug delivery was proved by cell metabolic activity and cell uptake measurements.

Synthesis and characterization of variable conformation pH responsive block co-polymers for nucleic acid delivery and targeted cell entry by Teresa Matini, Nora Francini, Anna Battocchio, Sebastian G. Spain, Giuseppe Mantovani, Maria J. Vicent, Joaquin Sanchis, Elena Gallon, Francesca Mastrotto, Stefano Salmaso, Paolo Caliceti and Cameron Alexander Polym. Chem. 2014, 5, 1626-1636.

Julien Nicolas is a web-writer and advisory board member for Polymer Chemistry. He currently works at Univ. Paris-Sud (FR) as a CNRS researcher.

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