Chemical Society Seminar: Xavier Banquy - Molecular brushes: hairy spaghettis with surprising properties
Abstract:
Molecular brushes are branched macromolecules whose architecture is similar to that of a bottle brush. This class of material is ubiquitous in nature and is often found in mucinous fluids of mammals and plants where they act as lubricating agent, antifouling or trapping coatings. These intriguing properties have drawn a lot of attention from polymer scientists and numerous novel applications of molecular brushes have been identified in optics, nanomedicine or mechanics. During the past few years we have been investigating the behavior of molecular brushes at the solid liquid interface and more recently in biological media using a structure-property relationship approach. We have systematically compared monoblock versus multiblock molecular brushes and evaluated their lubricating and antifouling properties in a wide range of media. Using surface sensitive techniques such as the Surface Forces Apparatus, we were able to rationalize the correlations between polymer architecture, conformation and interfacial properties. Our more recent work aims to study the properties of these materials in living organisms, especially at the surface of cartilage and in the blood stream. Our advances in that area show that molecular brushes are excellent candidates as nanocarriers for drug delivery to the brain as well as good chondroprotective agents.
Bio:
Pr Banquy is an Associate Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Montreal, Canada and director of the Drug Formulation Analisis research cluster. He holds the Tier2 Canada Research Chair in bioinspired materials and is currently the coordinator of an international consortium in articular nanotherapy funded by FRQS through the Euronanomed initiative. His research activities explore the behavior of soft matter at (bio)interfaces. In recent years, his group has been especially interested in the study of soft nanoparticle interactions with living matter and their implications in nanomedicine. In this area his research intents to identify which physical-chemical cues allow nanoparticles to translocate through biological barriers and to navigate in dense tissues. His group is also involved in the design of biomimetic materials for lubrication, adhesion and antifouling applications. His team has designed several lubricating polymers that are currently translated to the biomedical field and peptide based materials that could be used as strong tissue adhesives.