Affiliation: Ghent University, BE
Keywords: Polymers, supramolecular chemistry, self-assembly, responsive and smart materials, biomaterials, organic chemistry, polymer chemistry, poly(2-oxazoline)s
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My research is inspired by the beauty of natural self-assembly processes and aims to develop well-defined synthetic structures with controlled ordering and/or self-assembly resulting in functional materials. The combination of well-defined ‘smart’ polymer structures with supramolecular interactions provides an ideal platform to develop functional systems that we have applied for developing, e.g., sensors and diagnostics, drug delivery systems, responsive hydrogels, tissue adhesives, pharmaceutical excipients and self-healing materials. The unique approach in my research is that I always start from molecular design to develop molecules and polymers tailored to the application. As such, the projects in my groups start with organic synthesis of molecular building blocks, via detailed (kinetic) studies on polymer synthesis, all the way up to materials and properties.