Polymer Chemistry Blog

Dr Gerard Lligadas received his education in chemistry at the University Rovira i Virgili (URV), Tarragona, Spain. He continued his studies in Tarragona and completed his PhD in 2006 on exploring the utilization of plant oils as renewable feedstock in polymer chemistry. In 2007, a postdoctoral fellowship brought him to Penn University at Philadelphia, USA, where he worked under the direction of Prof. Virgil Percec on the elaboration of single-electron transfer living radical polymerization. At the end of 2008, he came back home becoming Lecturer and joining the Suspol Research Group at URV. His research interests include new bio-based polymers from renewable resources, halogen-free flame-retardant materials and controlled radical polymerization of acrylate and methacrylate monomers.

Research group’s website: http://www.quimica.urv.es/~w3qo/suspolymers/suspolymers

What was your inspiration in becoming a chemist? I had a really great chemistry teacher during high school. But I really got into the organic chemistry and polymer science world after listening to Prof. Juan C Ronda at the University. I got really fascinated by the way he feels science!

What was the motivation to write this article? (DOI: 10.1039/C2PY20273E) The key objectives of our research come under the broad heading of the sustainable polymer chemistry. In our searching of novel biobased polyols for polyurethane technology, we came a couple of years ago with the application of thiol-ene click chemistry to unsaturated fatty acid derivatives with hydroxyl-functionalized thiols. Here, our motivation was to make a step forward and apply thiol-yne coupling to alkyne-derivatized fatty esters for its ability to add double hydroxyl functionality without compromising ester functionality, which may be used for a further polyurethane modification.

Why did you choose Polymer Chemistry to publish your work? Polymer Chemistry attracted us because of the quality of the work it publishes. Moreover, it meets all the criteria of a modern journal: it has a wide scope, a broad readership and promises fast review process and publication – which I can now confirm from my own experience.

In which upcoming conferences may our readers meet you? In February, my wife and I welcomed our first kid. The rest of 2012 will be quite. Next year I plan to attend 3rd Frontiers in Polymer Science Symposium.

How do you spend your spare time? I try to get some quality time each day with my wife and I am also trying to keep active with triathlon…swimming, cycling and running is a perfect release of stress cocktail.

Which profession would you choose if you were not a scientist? Hard to say… but If I would not be a scientist, I would probably be a chef. I really enjoy trying out new recipes. My wife loves it!

Prof. Laurent Billon received his M.S. from the University of Bordeaux (1992) where he worked on anionic ring opening polymerization of cyclosilazanes.  He obtained his PhD on synthesis of functional telechelic polyimides in 1996 at the University of Pau (UPPA). Subsequent to postdoctoral research for Rhodia/Schlumberger on electro-rheological polyzwitterionic fluids (1998) and Arkema USA on acrylic-modified fluoro-polymers by seeded emulsion (1999), he started his career as Associate Professor in 2000 at the UPPA where he earned the position of Full Professor in 2010 and became Deputy Director of the Polymer team. His research interest focuses on the design of well-defined polymer structures, especially block and gradient copolymers, by controlled radical polymerization techniques.  His research activity is also focused on the development of Surface Initiated Nitroxide Mediated Polymerization to design functional hybrid colloidal particles and pigments with industrial partners. A special attention concerns the self-organized nano/micron structures, such as colloidal crystal, inverse opal or honeycomb patterns, for photonic and responsive surfaces.

What was your inspiration in becoming a chemist?

Since I was a teenager I have been fascinated by the possibility to transform the matter just by an invisible process, the chemistry. A few years after, during my License & Master degrees, I met a wonderful team of teachers in University of Bordeaux I which opened me to a new world: the polymer chemistry.

What was the motivation behind your recent Polymer Chemistry paper? (DOI: 10.1039/C1PY00357G)

It’s a long story because this study on Carbon NanoTubes CNT was developed with an industrial French partner. Few years ago, we patented and published a work on “in situ” polymerization where we were able to graft through the CNT the block copolymer chains during their growth, spontaneously. At this time, we focused only on this aspect and tried to characterize this phenomenon.

In a second contract, we focused on the polymerization kinetic in presence of raw industrial CNT without any post-modification … and we were surprised to observe a strong impact in terms of initiation and enhancement of the kinetic depending of the CNT amount. This work was first patented and finally even if we have not fully identified the mechanism of polymerization, it has been published in Polymer Chemistry. It’s a really an unexpected behavior because the initiation and growth of the chains occur in a controlled manner without any initiator and can also be better controlled by the adding of nitroxide.

This study represents a collaborative project between academic and industrial partners which can be strongly valorized by publication in Polymer Chemistry.

Why did you choose Polymer Chemistry to publish your work?

Polymer Chemistry is an exciting new journal that has become a top journal in the polymer scientific community. It contains innovative and inspiring research related to all aspects of polymer chemistry, only.

In which upcoming conferences may our readers meet you?

I will attend the CSM8 (May 28-31 in Beyrouth, Lebanon), EUPOC 2012 (June 3-7 in Gargnano, Italy) and Warwick 2012 (July 9-12 in Warwick, UK).

How do you spend your spare times?

I run two times a week (sometimes with my daughters) and when I have time, swim and bike. So, if I’m around Pau, in September I participate in a short triathlon or July in the swimming race, crossing the bay of Saint Jean de Luz … just for fun. But I don’t know the reason why, it’s more and more difficult … maybe the global warming!!!

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

I love breads, wines and cheeses, and also jazz and French rock music. To combine all these passions, I think I would have liked to keep a bar where you could taste organic products and enjoy jam sessions in a friendly atmosphere, curl up in sofas.

Prof. Mitsuru Ueda received his PhD degree from the Tokyo Institute of Technology in 1978. He joined Yamagata University in 1972 and was promoted to professor in 1989. He moved to the Tokyo Institute of Technology in 1999. He worked at the University of Alabama as a postdoctoral researcher from 1978 to 1979 and at IBM Almaden Research Center as a visiting researcher from 1985 to 1986. He has published more that 570 peer reviewed research papers. His current research interests are the development of new synthetic methods for condensation polymers, high refractive index polymers, polymer memory, polymer solar cells, fuel cell membranes, photosensitive materials for microelectronics, and new advanced resist materials.

What was your inspiration in becoming a chemist?

When I was a high school student, I was interested in chemistry through chemical experiments and felt that chemistry produces sometimes fantastic materials. My chemistry teacher at high school also recommended me to enter a department of applied chemistry at the university. I was very lucky to meet several excellent professors who introduced me a scientific fan of polymer chemistry and also the promise of polymers as future materials.

What was the motivation to write this article? DOI:10.1039/C2PY20093G

I have engaged in development of thermally stable and photosensitive polymers, specially, photosensitive polyimides (PSPIs) for last twenty years. However, no one knows the morphology of poly(amic acid) (PAA) films for PSPIs and few studies on the formation of spherical nanoparticles have been reported up to now. Most researchers including me believed that PAA films were homogeneous. During the course of the investigation, my student found spherical nanoparticles were formed during preparation of the PAA films for PSPIs. Being interested in taking SEM, he took the SEM of a spin-cast film of PAAs. Thus, these findings prompted us to investigate the spherical particle formation of PAAs during the film preparation. This observation is very important for developing photosensitive polyimides, providing deeper insight for a development process using organic solvents or aqueous base solutions.

Why did you choose Polymer Chemistry to publish your work?

Polymer Chemistry is an excellent journal which publishes high quality manuscripts in polymer science. Moreover, Dr. Liz Davis as the Managing Editor invited me to submit our article to this journal.

In which upcoming conferences may our readers meet you?

I am going to attend the 7^th International Symposium on Hi-tec Polymer Materilas held at in Xi’an City, China during June 17-21, the 29^th International Conference Photopolymer Science and Technology held at Chiba, Japan during June 26-29, the 1^st International Symposium on Polymer Ecomaterials held at Changchun, China during August 19 – 23, and Polycondensation 2012 held at San Francisco, USA during September 16-19.

How do you spend your spare times?

I take a walk and listen to music.

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

When I was young, I loved sailing and had enjoyed it until 45 years old. Thus if possible, I would be a professional sailing boat sailor.

Christophe Schatz is Assistant Professor at the ‘Institut Polytechnique de Bordeaux’ in the ‘Laboratoire de Chimie des Polymères Organiques (LCPO)’ led by Prof. H. Cramail (see author of the week, 23 March 2012). He received his PhD degree from the University of Lyon in 2003 for his work on polysaccharide colloids under the supervision of Prof. A. Domard and Pr. T. Delair. In 2004–2005, he was a postdoctoral fellow in the group of Dr. E. J. Wanless (University of Newcastle, Australia) working on polyelectrolyte micelles for functional interfaces. He is currently working in the group of Prof. S. Lecommandoux and his research focuses on colloidal assemblies from polysaccharides, polyelectrolytes and block copolymers for therapeutic applications.

Details of his research activities can be found at: http://www.lcpo.fr/

What was your inspiration in becoming a chemist?

The idea of working in a laboratory of chemistry to manipulate and study molecules has been a great motivation for a long time. Later, I realized how interactions can be used to direct molecular assembly and built materials.

What was the motivation behind the research in your recent Polymer Chemistry paper? (DOI:10.1039/C2PY20089A)  

The project is the result of a collaboration between the ‘Institut de Chimie de la Matière Condensée de Bordeaux (ICMCB)’ where researchers are able to design magnetic nanoparticles (NPs) having a Curie temperature adjusted at 43°C for biomedical applications and the ‘Laboratoire de Chimie des Polymères Organiques (LCPO)’ which has a long experience in the synthesis and properties of block copolymers. The motivation was to engineer the surface of magnetic NPs with copolymers so that an anticancer agent can be encapsulated and released at will by applying an ac magnetic field. This may be beneficial for reducing side effects of chemotherapy. We chose to modify the particle surface though a non-covalent approach, namely by co-adsorbing block copolymers, because many properties of polymer brushes, like the transition temperature or the drug encapsulation capacity, can be easily modified through the composition of adsorbed copolymer chains. In view of designing a functional polymer platform at particle surface, such an approach offers almost unlimited possibilities.

Why did you choose Polymer Chemistry to publish your work?

It looks like that Polymer Chemistry will become a major journal with a broad audience in polymer science.

In which upcoming conferences may our readers meet you?

I will attend the 9th International Symposium on Polyelectrolytes – ISP 2012 (Lausanne, July 9-12) and then the Colloids and Nanomedicine conference in Amsterdam, July 15-17.

How do you spend your spare times?

Music, cooking and diving (since my post-doc in Australia). Reading newspapers with a cup of coffee takes me some time too!

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

Musician or maybe explorer in another life…