Precision Polymer Synthesis for Advanced Applications
Cyrille Boyer
Centre for Advanced Macromolecular Design (CAMD), School of Chemical Engineering, UNSW Australia, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia
Australian Centre for NanoMedicine, School of Chemical Engineering, UNSW Australia, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia
E-mail: cboyer@unsw.edu.au
This talk will have two parts. In the first part of this talk, we will present a light regulated polymerization. The emergence of efficient photocatalysts using transition metals, such as iridium and ruthenium, has been recently applied to perform organic reactions under visible light. Such catalysts have been utilized to perform complex organic reactions. In this talk, we present our recent results showing that these catalysts can be employed in polymer synthesis for the preparation of complex macromolecules and their post-modification under visible light. According to the nature of photocatalysts, different polymerizations can be achieved using a range of wavelengths (from blue to near Infrared). We demonstrated that a large range of photocatalysts can activate a photoinduced electron/energy transfer (PET) process, which initiates a reversible addition fragmentation chain transfer polymerization (RAFT). More recently, we exploited photocatalyst property to perform specific monoradical addition, which can be exploited for the synthesis of sequence defined polymers. The use of these catalysts in polymer synthesis allows the design of functional materials with specific properties. In the second part, we will give an overview of our research on the prevention of biofilm and the design of antimicrobial polymers. In this research, we have developed polymers capable to release Nitric Oxide (molecule capable to disperse and prevent the formation of biofilm). We have also demonstrated synergistic effect when we combine nitric oxide (NO) with antibiotic for the treatment against antibiotic resistant bacteria.
Biography: Prof Cyrille Boyer received his Ph.D. from the University of Montpellier II. After working with Dupont Performance Elastomers, Cyrille moved to UNSW in the centre for advanced macromolecular design. He was awarded the SCOPUS Young Researcher of the year Award in 2012, one of the six 2015 Prime Minister's Science Prizes (Malcolm McIntosh Prize for Physical Scientist of the year), the 2016 LeFevre Memorial Prize and nominated as one of the inaugural Knowledge Nation 100 selected by the Knowledge Society, guided by Australia's Chief Scientist, Professor Ian Chubb and senior commentators from The Australian newspaper. Cyrille’s research has also been recognized by several international awards, including ACS Biomacromolecules/Macromolecules Award and Journal of Polymer Science Innovation Award. Cyrille is the co-director of Australian Centre for Nanomedicine and member of Centre for Advanced Macromolecular Design. The Australian Centre for Nanomedicine regroups 12 academics, 25 post-docs and research associates and 80 PhD students. Cyrille's research interests mainly cover the use of photoredox catalysts to perform living radical polymerization and polymer post-modification and anti-microbial polymers. Cyrille has published around 200 articles which have gathered over 10,000 citations.