IMX Talks - Materials with programmable lifecycles: from transient self-assembly to functional wood composites

The aim of this talk is to give an overview of recent results in the fields of clock reaction-controlled self-assembly and functional wood materials. Although conceptually very different, these two topics help highlight the relevance of temporal programming in materials science from two opposite sides – fundamental and nano-scale vs. real-world and global-scale.
The design of artificial chemically-controlled dissipative self-assembly systems is a very promising approach for the production of life-mimicking active materials.
It is tantalizing to image materials that could autonomously self-assemble from building blocks, perform their function(s), and afterwards disassemble back into the starting building blocks ready to start a new cycle. In such systems, external control could be avoided or reduced to a minimum through the use of nonlinear chemical reaction networks. In this framework clock reactions are especially useful tools, e.g. as in situ generators of chemical (pH, redox) and physical (temperature) stimuli for the time-programming of self-(dis)assembly events in (supra)molecular and colloidal systems.
Wood is a renewable resource as well as a natural sink for CO₂. Its availability, unique (micro)structure and mechanical properties make it a state-of-art building material. To further promote its use in sustainable smart buildings, it is necessary to enable it with new functions – such as the ability to generate and conduct electricity and light. These composites have great applicative potential and, when designed and produced according to circular economy and green chemistry principles, could offer an advantage for alleviating the effects of global climate change.

Bio: Guido Panzarasa received his PhD in Chemical Sciences in 2016 from the University of Eastern Piedmont “Amedeo Avogadro” (Italy). In 2018 he joined ETH Zürich as a postdoc in Prof. Eric Dufresne’s group (Department of Materials), where he started to explore the synergies between systems chemistry and materials science aiming to develop chemically-programmable life-mimicking materials. In 2020 he was promoted group leader in the Wood Materials Science Laboratory (Prof. Ingo Burgert, Department of Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering) and his research focus drifted towards sustainability, green chemistry and functional wood materials.