Programming polymers

Overview

Radical polymerisations play a key role in both commercial and fundamental research with it being in 45% of international polymer production at 100 million tons per year.

However, radical polymerizations still suffer from synthetic drawbacks like all-carbon polymer backbones, which largely prevent their (bio)degradability.

In this project, we will develop novel polymers which can be programmed towards a controlled degradability. Towards this goal, you will develop a polymerization technique that allows to incorporate small natural building blocks (i.e. peptides) or photodegradable units into synthetic polymers. These peptide sequences will carry the information load encoded into these polymers.

Research engagement

You will engage in the complete process of research and development, starting with the molecular design, proceeding through its synthesis, and concluding with a thorough evaluation of its performance.

Research activities

You will design functional molecular structures, plan a strategy for the synthesis and finally use the toolbox of organic chemistry to synthesise those novel molecules. Subsequently, those functional molecules will be tested for their performance as monomers in radical polymerizations.

Outcomes

We are looking to develop novel plastics, which degrade on demand.

Skills and experience

If you are highly motivated to learn new skills in synthetic chemistry and keen to participate in cutting edge science, you are the perfect candidate for this project.

At least one year of undergraduate chemistry would be beneficial.

Start date

1 November, 2024

End date

28 February, 2025

Location

GP M420

Keywords

• organic chemistry
• polymer chemistry
• supramolecular chemistry

Contact

Hendrik Frisch, H.Frisch@qut.edu.au