Macromolecular engineering by atom transfer radical polymerization

Speaker: Professor Krzysztof Matyjaszewski, Professor of Natural Sciences and Director of the Center for Macromolecular Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University

Macromolecular Engineering (ME) is a process comprising the rational design of (co)polymers with specific architecture and functionality, followed by precise and efficient polymer synthesis and processing to prepare advanced materials with target properties. Many advanced nanostructured functional materials were recently designed and prepared by atom transfer radical polymerization employing diverse vinyl monomers. Various gradient, block, periodic copolymers, stars, molecular brushes, hybrid materials, and bioconjugates were prepared with high precision. Special emphasis will be on nanostructured multifunctional hybrid materials for applications related to biology, environment, and energy. 

Profile

We are delighted to host Professor Krzysztof Matyjaszewski for the 2024 Melville Lectureship. Professor Kris Matyjaszewski is the J.C. Warner University Professor of Natural Sciences and director of the Center for Macromolecular Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University. In 1994, he discovered Cu-mediated atom transfer radical polymerization, which was commercialized in 2004 in US, Japan and Europe. He has synthesized many advanced materials for biomedical, environmental, and energy-related applications and has co-authored >1,300 publications, (>192,000 citations, h-index 209) and has 69 US patents. He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, National Academy of Sciences, European, Australian, Polish, Hungarian, and Georgian Academies of Sciences. He received the 2023 NAS Award in Chemical Sciences, 2021 Grand Prix de la Fondation de la Maison de la Chimie, France, 2017 Benjamin Franklin Medal in Chemistry, 2015 Dreyfus Prize in Chemical Sciences, 2011 Wolf Prize in Chemistry, 2009 Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award, and thirteen doctorates honoris causa.
 
Professor Matyjaszewski will be visiting our department for the week of 13 May and delivering two lectures.