Tags: Materials Chemistry and Nanoscience Seminar


Self-healing Polymers: Characteristics and Applications

The replacement of construction materials such as pipelines, coatings, and seals and biomedical materials such as wound dressings and dental fillings is costly and time consuming. Oftentimes, such inconvenience could be avoided if the lifespan of the materials can be prolonged. Self-healing polymers are promising alternatives and solutions to these materials in some of the important fields including construction, commercial product, biomedical…


Suture Materials: Current and Emerging Trends

Sutures are special threads used in surgical procedures to enable closing and healing of surgical or trauma-induced wounds by upholding tissues together to facilitate healing process. Versatile suture materials are available for medical purpose. However, no single suture material is considered ideal for all situations, requiring clinicians to balance various properties when choosing a material for a particular application. Recent advancements…


Ultra-Low Fouling Coatings for Antimicrobial Biomaterials

Antimicrobial coatings are a promising route to prevent healthcare-acquired microbial infections caused by bacterial pathogens in medical contexts.1 To solve the problem of microbial biofouling, surfaces that can passively resist bacterial adhesion have been investigated. Surfaces with unique wetting phenomena have been proposed to reduce general biofouling, but to date, mainly superhydrophobic surfaces, surfaces that prevent water adhesion…


Heterogeneous Nucleation of Poly(hydroxybutyrate-co-hydroxyhexanoate)

Nucleation comprises the initial step of polymer crystallization, wherein the polymer melt stabilizes into ordered local structures, allowing for points from which polymer crystals can begin to grow. Nucleation quality can significantly impact the materials properties and processability of a polymer and is therefore of high importance to the materials science community. However, the collective understanding of polymer nucleation remains largely…


Design of Low-Dimensional Optical and Magnetic Chalcogenide Materials

Chalcogenides are compounds of the group-16 elements or chalcogens (Q), consisting of O, S, Se, and Te. Because O differs significantly in electronegativity (3.5 for O compared to 2.5 for S, 2.4 for Se, and 2.1 for Te), oxides are typically distinguished from the rest of the chalcogenides, which exhibit strongly covalent character. Metal chalcogenides have found applications in wide ranging areas as optical materials, magnetic materials,…


Adaptations of Cells and Tissues to Spatiotemporally Dynamic Mechanical Environments

In recent years significant progress has been made towards understanding the molecular and cellular mechanism by which cells “feel” their environment. There exists a complex relationship between the behavior of a cell, its physical properties, and its surrounding environment. Materials and devices with the ability to characterize cells and tissues in time and in response to changing stimuli have the potential to reshape our understanding of how…


Expedited Oral Solid Dosage Development

In 2021, Americans spent $525 million on oral solid dosage forms, of which tablets made up 53.1% of the market. (1). Tablets are the most popular drug delivery method because of the relatively low cost of ingredients, ease of manufacturing, and high patient compliance (1). In the early stages of formulation development, when drug availability is limited and expensive (2), the current methodology of making  tablet formulations require…


Diblock Copolymer Membranes: What Can We Learn from Computer Simulation?

Block copolymer membranes offer a bottom-up approach to form isoporous membranes that are useful for ultrafiltration of functional macromolecules, colloids, and water purifcation. Experimentally, the fabrication of isoporous block copolymer membranes from a mixed film of an asymmetric block copolymer and two solvents involves two stages: First, the volatile solvent evaporates, creating a dense polymer skin, in which the block copolymer self…


Investigation On The Enzymatic Degradability Of Glycoloic Urthanes Via Fluorescence Assay

The continual rise of plastic production globally has placed a heightened focus on the end of life destination for this durable products.1 Replacing current nondegradable commodity plastics with degradable alternatives, specifically those that are compostable, can help alleviate the disposal burden that these products present.2 Through the application of a high-throughput fluorescence based enzymatic degradation screening method, we have…


Calcium Carbonate based Nanoparticles to Activate T cells for Anti-tumor Immunotherapy

   
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