Supramolecular Micro- and Macro- gels - A candidate has been selected

Internship proposal 2021-2022

Soft Matter Science and Engineering Laboratory, (SIMM)

Address: ESPCI, 10 Rue Vauquelin 75005 Paris

Chair: Etienne Barthel

Supervisors: Nicolas Sanson and Patrick Perrin

Scientific description:

During the last three decades micro- and macrogels have received considerable interests for applications in many areas including material science, drug delivery, biosensors. Macrogels and microgels exhibit a 3D network structure that swells in a suitable solvent. Challenging research has been directed towards the chemical design of "stimuli-responsive" or "smart" micro/macro-gels which properties can be reversibly modulated in response to an environmental stimulus. To achieve this, both micro- and macrogels need to bear suitable chemical functions to target the desired properties in relation to applications. Within this framework, our research team is interested in the synthesis and functionalization of micro/ macrogel by supramolecular chemistry to control their swelling as well as their rheological/mechanical properties by changing their crosslinking density under stimulation.[1,2,3]
The project is thus structured around three cornerstones: (i) the synthesis and characterization of functionalized micro/macrogels using (mainly) conventional radical polymerization (ii) the physicochemical characterization of the responsive gels depending on the chain environment (iii) the study of their properties in bulk and at interfaces.
Typically, the swelling and rheological/mechanical behavior of the gels will be investigated with respect to their microscopic structures, which can be changed under the action of various stimuli.

References
[1] J. Es Sayed, C. Lorthioir, P. Perrin, N. Sanson Soft Matter 2019, 15, 963.
[2] J. Es Sayed, C. Lorthioir, P. Banet, P. Perrin, N. Sanson Angewandte Chemie International Edition 2020, 59, 7042.
[3] J. Es Sayed, C. Meyer, N. Sanson, P. Perrin ACS Macroletters 2020, 9, 1040.

Keywords:
Stimuli-responsive polymers, Supramolecular chemistry, Microgel

Techniques/methods in use: polymer synthesis, NMR, Size exclusion chromatography (SEC), UV-vis spectroscopy, swelling experiments

Applicant skills:
  General knowledge of polymer synthesis and characterization
  General knowledge of the physical chemistry of colloids
  Experimental skills
  Reporting and communication skills

Industrial partnership: No

Internship supervisor(s):
N. Sanson (), Patrick Perrin ()
Internship location: Soft Matter Science and Engineering (SIMM) laboratory at ESPCI, a joint CNRS-ESPCI-SU laboratory, 10 rue Vauquelin 75005 Paris

Possibility for a Doctoral thesis: To be discussed

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