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SUMMARY:Harnessing proteins for polymer synthesis\, nanoreactors and force
 -responsive materials
DTSTART:20150717T130000
DTSTAMP:20260510T185725Z
UID:7461604e47e2c937697d7327f35399593d1428a626f2d35adb94b924
CATEGORIES:Conferences - Seminars
DESCRIPTION:Prof. Nico Bruns\, University of Fribourg\nMaterials science a
 nd biochemistry have long been considered two separated realms of research
  with little overlap. However\, in recent years it has become apparent tha
 t an interdisciplinary approach combining polymer chemistry and protein sc
 ience is creating new opportunities to design and realize multifunctional 
 (nano)materials\, as well as to support the environmentally friendly synth
 esis of polymers.\nThe talk will exemplify the current research results of
  the Bruns group. The discovery that the proteins horseradish peroxidase a
 nd hemoglobin possess ATRPase activity will be presented\, i.e. their abil
 ity to catalyze atom transfer radical polymerizations (ATRP). Moreover\, t
 he thermosome\, a protein cage from the family of chaperonins\, will be in
 troduced as nanoreactors for ATRP\, which allows the synthesis of narrowly
  dispersed polymers in aqueous solution.\nLast but not least\, fluorescent
  proteins will be discussed as mechanically responsive molecular sensors t
 hat report on micro-scale damage within fiber-reinforced composites.\nBio:
  Nico Bruns is Professor of Macromolecular Chemistry at the Adolphe Merkle
  Institute of the University of Fribourg\, Switzerland.\nHe studied chemis
 try at the Universities of Freiburg (Germany) and Edinburgh (Scotland) and
  graduated from the University of Freiburg as Diplom-Chemiker in 2003. He 
 received his Ph.D. from the same University in 2007 under the supervision 
 of Prof. Jörg Tiller and Prof. Rolf Mülhaupt. His PhD thesis in polymer 
 chemistry focused on nanostructured polymer networks as catalyst-carriers 
 for enzymes.\nFrom 2007 to 2008 he was a postdoctoral researcher at the Un
 iversity of California\, Berkeley\, USA\, working with Prof. Douglas S. Cl
 ark in the field of bionanotechnology. He then joined the University of Ba
 sel\, Switzerland\, where he led a research group as Habilitand from 2008 
 to 2013. He received a scholarship from the German National Academic Found
 ation\, a Marie Curie Fellowship\, a Holcim Stiftung Wissen Fellowship\, a
 s well as the Pfizer Research Award for Young Scientists.\nIn 2013 he was 
 awarded a Swiss National Science Foundation Professorship\, which enabled 
 him to take up his current position. His research interests include enzyme
 -catalyzed controlled/living radical polymerizations (ATRPases)\, protein 
 cages and polymersomes as nanoreactors\, and polymer-protein hybrid materi
 als with the capability to self-report damage.
LOCATION:MXG110 http://plan.epfl.ch/?lang=fr&room=MXG110
STATUS:CONFIRMED
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