Mar 4
Chemistry Department Seminar: Visiting Assistant Candidate
Wed, March 4, 2026
• 3:30pm
- 4:30pm (1h) • Anderson 329
Using Copper to Make Smarter Polymers:Stretchable and Biocompatible Materials
Polymers are everywhere in our society, from plastic water bottles to wind turbine blades. Beyond single-use and industrial applications, polymers are essential in the field of biomedical engineering for use in skin grafts, drug delivery, implants, and other soft tissue applications. When designing materials for soft tissue repair, one significant challenge is to match the mechanical properties of the synthetic material to the targeted soft tissue. As synthetic polymer chemists, we can methodically design a biocompatible and tunable material for use in applications like skin grafts.
One way to achieve a biocompatible polymer material with tunable mechanical properties is via reversible crosslinking with coordination bonds. Inspired by the high abundance of histidine residues in copper metalloproteins, we synthesized polyester copolymers with a handle for post polymerization modification with a histidine-inspired ligand. The addition of a small amount of copper(II) ions results in formation of reversibly crosslinked materials whose mechanical properties are tunable via copolymer composition to match the elasticity and stiffness of skin throughout our bodies. Finally, these polymer materials are cytocompatible with human umbilical vein endothelial cells, demonstrating their promising ability to be used in soft tissue repair applications. This work will inform the future use of reversibly crosslinked polymers in soft tissue applications and provide a platform for accessing the wide range of mechanical properties necessary for the organs in the human body.
**This seminar counts towards the chemistry major seminar attendance requirement.