Polymer Chemistry Blog

Please follow the link for further information on Umit’s research group and his recent paper in Polymer Chemistry.

 What was your inspiration in becoming a chemist?

Actually, I was graduated from Chemical Engineering Department of Istanbul Technical University (BSc). Later, I preferred to study polymer chemistry in my MSc thesis. It is only coincidence.

What was the motivation behind the research in your recent Polymer Chemistry paper?

I have sent an e-mail to Prof. Barner-Kowollik for collaboration on writing a review paper on the click chemistry. He accepted my offer, however he hesitated that too many review papers have been in literature by now on the popular click chemistry. Later, we have decided that it would have been a good chance to write a review paper compassing both star polymers and click chemistry.  

Why did you choose Polymer Chemistry to publish your work?

Polymer Chemistry is a new journal of the RSC in polymer chemistry area and will probably has an impact factor over at least 4 in an early of 2012.  

In which upcoming conferences may our readers meet you?

I do not like conferences very much. This is why  I am getting very excited in front of the people.

How do you spend your spare times?

Spare times really mean empty times. I do nothing at those times.   

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

I have no idea about that. I like yachting and boating.

Michael Whittaker was born in 1964 in Bellingen; a small rural beach-side town in Australia. After graduating from the University of Queensland (Brisbane, Australia) with 1^st class Honours he spent 8 years as an environmental scientist in a variety of industry positions. He received his Ph-D in polymer chemistry in 2000 from the University of Queensland for work investigating the molecular dynamics in swollen polymer networks using solid state NMR relaxation mechanisms.

In 2001 he joined Bio-Layer Pty Ltd as a Senior Research Scientist where he developed methodologies for the modification, synthesis and assembly of polymer interfaces to preferentially orientate antibodies. During this period he also held an adjunct lecturer position within the University of New South Wales. In 2006, he joined the Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (AIBN) as Senior Research Fellow. During this appointment he published and patented novel strategies for the modular synthesis of water soluble polymers and polymeric nanoparticles for the delivery of drug and siRNA therapeutics. He also led a team which explored the synthesis of novel complex polymer architectures using new applications of  ”click” chemistries.

Since October 2008 he is the Research Manager for both the Centre of Advanced Macromolecular Design (CAMD) and the Australian Centre for Nanomedicine (ACN), University of New South Wales. The IP he has generated during his career has contributed to the formation of two spinout companies, Dendrimed Pty Ltd and MetalloTek Pty Ltd. The MetalloTek X3 particle technology developed with University of Queensland collaborators for contaminated land rehabilitation was recently acknowledged with an “Excellence in environmental management” award, at the 2011 Australian Mining Awards.

He has co-authored over 55 peer-reviewed research papers including 6 international patents in a diverse range of areas; Toxicology of nanoparticles, Synthesis of “SMART” hybrid inorganic/organic nano-materials, New applications of polymerization methods in polymer design, Polymers for environmental remediation, and Novel applications of “click” chemistry in polymer synthesis.

Please follow the link for further information on Mikey’s research group and his recent paper in Polymer Chemistry.

What was your inspiration in becoming a chemist?

I remember getting for Christmas one year a “Junior Chemistry Set” and I guess that inspired my initial interest in Chemistry. I should add that I still have some bad habits formed at this early age; taking particular delight in causing explosive foaming and/or loud bangs!

What was the motivation behind the research in your recent Polymer Chemistry paper?

As with most polymer scientists, my co-authors and I have over our careers struggled with block polymer synthesis. In consideration of this we had been watching with some interest the evolution of work by both Percec and Haddleton, which was producing polymers via metal catalysed LFRP with very high end-group fidelity. It seemed to us that this technique would be ideally suited to this problem and would afford a new approach where monomer conversion could be effectively ignored in block polymer formation. Fortunately the results were even more positive than we had hoped.

Why did you choose Polymer Chemistry to publish your work?

I have always been inspired by the work of Dave Haddleton and the other editors of the journal, so when I heard about Polymer Chemistry I knew that its success was assured. The combination of synthetic and biological macromolecular science uniquely reflects current trends in my area of research so it was a very easy decision to publish this work here.

In which upcoming conferences may our readers meet you?

The coming year will be somewhat busy with the Australian Polymer Symposium (Hobart-February), ACS Spring Meeting (San Diego- March), 3^rd Australian Nanomedicine Conference (Sydney-July) and you cannot miss the Trivial Pursuit night at Warwick 2012 (Coventry-July).

How do you spend your spare times?

Spare time? I still really enjoy working in the lab and most weekends will find me at the bench trying another crazy idea. As often as possible I take a weekend off at our family farm in Coffs Harbour; a coastal town about 5 hours drive north from Sydney. I must admit however, that on most Sunday afternoons at 3pm you will find me lying on Coogee Beach in the sun.

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

That’s a hard one! I love to cook, so I probably would have become a chef. My friends would argue against this.

Yusuf Yagci is a full professor of Chemistry at Istanbul Technical University, Turkey. He received his Masters (1977) and Ph.D. (1979) degree from Liverpool University (UK). He has published about 400 original research papers in different peer-reviewed international journals. Professor Yagci has supervised more than 70 Ph.D. and M.Sc. students. He serves as member of the editorial board of many international journals. He is the recipient of several awards including the Turkish Scientific and Technological Research Council (Tubitak) Young Investigator Award (1989), Tubitak Science Award (1994), Turkish Chemical Society Honorary Member Award (2002), The Society of Polymer Science, Japan (SPSJ) InternationalAward (2008), the Elginkan Foundation Technology Award (2008) and  Comstech (Islamic Countries Technology Council) Science Award (2010). He is also a full member of the Turkish Academy of Sciences (1997). His research interests involve synthesis of complex macromolecular structures, photopolymerization, controlled/living polymerization methods, high performance thermosets.

Please follow the links for further information on Yusuf’s research group and his recent paper in Polymer Chemistry.

What was your inspiration in becoming a chemist?

My father. I was not a good student during my high school education. I failed to pass the final exams in Chemistry, English and History and had to wait for a year without going to the school to get acceptable marks. Then, I wanted to study Pharmacology in order to have more free time after the education to play soccer, to listen to music and for other social activities. However, my father insisted to study Chemical Engineering and otherwise he would have not supported financially. The selection of polymer chemistry also happened accidentally. While I was attending to a language course in Cambridge, one of my friends asked to accompany him for visiting Liverpool University. After meeting Prof. Bamford and Prof. Ledwith there, I decided to continue my further studies at Liverpool University. Eventually, I completed both MSc and PhD studies under their supervision. This period was a very fortunate time of my educational life. I learned a lot from Prof. Ledwith and found out that I follow his research strategy without paying too much attention that time.

What was the motivation behind the research in your recent Polymer Chemistry paper?

Besides our strong interest in photoinitiating systems and high performance thermoset polymers, we focus on the synthesis of complex macromolecular architectures using controlled/living polymerization and various coupling processes. I am a lucky scientist because I have brilliant students. While discussing on our mutual interest, one of my Ph.D students, Gorkem Yilmaz suggested to combine all existing click reactions to form miktoarm star copolymers. It worked out well and we believe the concept we describe will be an important contribution to synthetic polymer chemistry.

Why did you choose Polymer Chemistry to publish your work?

When “Polymer Chemistry” started to be published, I hesitated to submit any paper as its value in the community was not clear. Soon after, it took its place among the high ranking journals particularly in the field of synthetic polymer chemistry.

In which upcoming conferences may our readers meet you?

International Symposium on Polymers for Advanced Tehnologies (Poland). Thailand Polymer Congress, Thailand, Pacific Polymer Congress (South Korea), World Polymer Congress (USA) and so on.

How do you spend your spare times?

Playing soccer, tennis, table tennis, squash, and singing. Basically enjoying the life.

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

I would choose to be a soccer player.

Thomas Junkers graduated with a PhD in physical chemistry in 2006 from Göttingen University, where he had worked under the guidance of Prof. Michael Buback on Pulsed Laser Polymerization methods for the elucidation of chain-length effects in macroradical termination. Subsequently, he joined the Centre for Advanced Macromolecular Design at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, continuing to work on radical polymerization kinetics, but also starting to work on polymer synthesis projects. In the midlle of 2008, he followed Prof. Christopher Barner-Kowollik to the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology , working as a senior researcher until he was appointed Professor at Hasselt University early 2010. At UHasselt, he started the Polymer Reaction Design Group within the department of organic and (bio)polymer chemistry of the institute for materials research (www.imo.uhasselt.be). Recently, he received a prestigeous Odysseus grant from the Funds for Scientific Research Flanders (FWO) to support his work on the controlled synthesis of organic conducting materials. Generally, his research focuses on the design of facile polymer synthesis pathways, control methodologies for unconventional radical polymerization systems, efficient polymer conjugation reactions, state-of-the art polymer characterization as well as kinetic modelling.

Please follow the link for further information on Thomas’ research group and his recent paper published in Polymer Chemistry.

What was your inspiration in becoming a chemist?

I grew up in Leverkusen (Germany), hence since early childhood I was literally surrounded by chemistry. While such chemical industry setting may have the adverse effect on many people, it only got me deeper into the sciences. Wanting to understand what happens (and why) on a molecular level was my driving force ever since I learned what atoms and molecules are. It is this (sometimes childish) fascination I got back then that until today gives me the motivation to carry on.

What was the motivation behind the research in your recent Polymer Chemistry paper?

When we developed the Enhanced Spin Capturing Polymerization (ESCP) method and there with the Nitrone-Mediated Radical Coupling (NMRC) technique, we immediately started to extend its applicability by combining it with as many different methods as possible. When I moved to Belgium one of my first contacts became the labs in Liege, where the cobalt chemistry was developed that we have now put together with the nitrone’s spin capturing activity. The combination of both methods proved to be very success and fruitful but moreover, I enjoyed a very nice collaboration between several labs.

Why did you choose Polymer Chemistry to publish your work?

As so many others have already noted, Polymer Chemistry has rapidly become a very respected journal and I much appreciate the selection of papers and topics that are covered. I must say the proportion of articles that get my deeper interest in Polymer Chemistry is significantly larger than with many other journals in the field.

In which upcoming conferences may our readers meet you?

You will meet me in October in Hasselt at the ‘Photovoltaics at the nanoscale’ conference. The next chance will then be at the Australasian Polymer Symposium in Hobart in February.

How do you spend your spare times?

Not enough with sports. But luckily, my little son is keeping me busy – usually a much appreciated change from the academic world. Also, meeting friends and family or just listening to good music is a good way to relax. Otherwise I enjoy travelling, hiking and scuba diving.

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

When I went to university, information technology was my second choice. Today I think I would do something very different and study psychology or maybe history and politics. More realistically, however, (if I really had to choose something new) I would probably open up a sushi restaurant.