OCCA Weekly Webinar - Polymers for surface functionalisation at the nanoscale
Venue: Webinar
Date: Wednesday 25th May 2022
Time: 14:30 – 15:30
Our Series 7 of OCCA Weekly Webinars continues with "Polymers for surface functionalisation at the nanoscale" presented by Alessio Quadrelli and Dr Sam Jarvis of Lancaster University. The webinar will take place via Zoom on Wednesday 25 May at 2:30pm.This webinar is free to attend, simply register below and you'll receive further details & joining instructions in due course.
Abstract:
The surface is the interface between a material and its surrounding environment. Though a few nanometres thick, it influences material performance in many ways ranging from adhesion to the enhancement of catalytic activity. Coatings are substances applied to a surface to improve the properties and bestow new functionalities, unaffecting the bulk material. Organic molecules are relevant in this context as they have both functional groups and can assemble into functional structures.
Surface engineering and the coating of materials offer enormous opportunities to enhance a material's value; estimated at £11bn pa activity in the UK, underpinning products worth ca. £140bn pa [1]. For example, coatings are suitable to reduce or inhibit the attachment of proteins, cells and living organisms to surfaces, a healthcare problem estimated at 400 bn $ pa worldwide [2]. Alternatively, coatings can introduce metal centres and selective absorption sites, improving catalytic performances of a wide variety of surfaces.
However, layers of organic molecules are fragile and require stabilisation to survive the interaction with the environment. It is especially relevant to catalysis, as chemical reactions occur potentially in harsh conditions. In biological environments, stabilisation is needed for the coating to survive exposure to liquids, different temperatures, biomolecules and living organisms.
The talk will deal with polymerisation approaches to functionalise surfaces with nanoscaled polymeric coatings. Furthermore, I will discuss the characterisation tools to investigate their chemistry and surface structure at the nanoscale.
[1] Time for strategic change: UK surface engineering and advanced coatings industry, A report by the SEAC special interest group, 2014
[2] www.biofilms.ac.uk
Speaker Profile
Alessio Quadrelli - Postgraduate Researcher, Lancaster University
Alessio Quadrelli graduated in Physics at Univeristá degli Studi di Milano in 2020. He previously worked on thermo-responsive hydrogels and 2D materials (MoTe2).
He is currently a PhD candidate at Lancaster University, studying polymeric surface coatings at the nanoscale with surface sensitive techniques.
Part of his PhD consists of collaborating with SMEs through the GISMO project to analyse and optimise their products.
Speaker Profile
Dr Sam Jarvis - Lecturer in Nanoscale Characterisation, Lancaster University
Dr Sam Jarvis was appointed as a Lecturer (Assistant Professor) at Lancaster University in 2016, working in the Physics Department, Quantum Technology Centre, and the Materials Science Institute. Sam leads the Atomic Imaging and Surface Chemistry group at Lancaster and directs research in Nanoscale Microscopy in the ultra-low-noise Lancaster IsoLab. His research spans on-surface chemistry, single atom catalysts, green energy organic thermoelectric materials, 2D materials, antifouling and antimicrobial surfaces, and atomic scale imaging.
