Functional polymers and microspheres

我们在三个方面研究聚合物纳米复合材料的形成和性能。我们正在形成聚合物“洋葱型”微球，使用新的方法，基于热，共价和非共价印迹到聚合物微球在其形成过程中。此外，我们正在研究能够形成复合物的聚电解质，这些复合物随后在不添加通常的小分子交联剂的情况下自交联。所得的生物相容性水凝胶可用于伤口愈合、细胞包封和作为分离膜。最后，我们正在开发基于同步加速器的X射线显微光谱学作为一种工具，以映射我们的复合材料的化学成分在亚微米空间尺度上。

We are studying the formation and properties of polymer nanocomposites in three areas. We are forming polymeric "onion-type" microspheres, using new approaches based on thermal, covalent and non-covalent imprinting into polymer microspheres during their formation. In addition, we are studying polyelectrolytes capable of forming complexes that subsequently self-crosslink without addition of the usual small molecule crosslinkers. The resulting bio-compatible hydrogels may have applications in wound healing, cell encapsulation, and as separation membranes. Finally, we are developing synchrotron-based X-ray microspectroscopy as a tool to map the chemical composition of our composites on the sub-micron spatial scale.