Our group has a particular interest in the study of molecular, polymeric and structured materials for the development of adaptive functional systems. We capitalize on our ability to tailor the molecular design and molecular interactions by means of synthetic and engineering approaches. Our work is often inspired by nature and lies at the interface between several fields from chemistry, materials science, photophysics, etc.
Chemists by training, we are engineers at heart who aim to solve both fundamental and societally relevant problems (e.g. health, energy, food) by building bridges with other disciplines. Our goal is to impart functionality to materials by controlling their structure. Our strategy in research aims to go from molecular design all the way to tangible prototypes and samples, i.e. from organic chemistry to engineering by means of macromolecular science. The following vignettes highlight some of the ongoing research themes in the laboratory at present.
Light upconversion whereby photons of low energy are converted into (fewer) photons of high energy is an attractive feat for a slew of applications in energy, displays or even bio-imaging. While such conversion schemes typically rely on high power lasers, low-power light upconversion (a.k.a. light upconversion by triplet-triplet annihilation) is a particularly attractive method in that its intricate photophysical cascade of events allows for the utilization of non-coherent light with low-power density (e.g. with solar irradiance). In the group, we develop new pathways to generate light upconversion in solid (polymeric) materials by tuning precisely the structure and the location of the emitters and sensitizers.
Mechanochemistry of polymers is burgeoning field of macromolecular science that aims to change a long-standing paradigm (i.e. the fact that mechanical force leads to damage in a material) and turn it around to convert mechanical energy into a useful response. In the group, we are developing several avenues at different length scales: (macro)molecular, supramolecular and system-wide, to impart mechanical-energy transduction capabilities.
Our group is interested in understanding the assembly of amphiphilic triblock copolymers as it pertains to drug-delivery and cell mimicry. We are especially interested in devising new strategies to control the shape as well as the transport in and out of polymer vesicles, a.k.a. polymersomes. Thus, far we have demonstrated the influence of chain structure, reactivity and topology on the assembly and shape transformation of polymersomes, especially through the use of bottlebrushes and triblocks with glassy hydrophobic segments.
