Professor Krzysztof Matyjaszewski

Professor Krzysztof Matyjaszewski
Department of Chemistry
Carnegie Mellon University

Nanostructured Functional Materials by Atom Transfer Radical Polymerization

Advanced nanostructured functional materials were designed and prepared using ATRP (atom transfer radical polymerization) with ppm amounts of copper-based catalytic systems. ATRP of acrylates, methacrylates, styrenes, acrylamides, acrylonitrile and other vinyl monomers was controlled by various external stimuli, including electrical current, light, mechanical forces also in water and open air. ATRP was employed for synthesis of polymers with precisely controlled molecular architecture with designed shape, composition and functionality. Block, graft, star, hyperbranched, gradient and periodic copolymers, molecular brushes and various hybrid materials and bioconjugates were prepared with high precision. These sustainable polymers can be used as components of advanced nanostructured functional materials for applications related to environment, energy, healthcare and catalysis.

Krzysztof Matyjaszewski

Kris Matyjaszewski is 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, commercialized in 2004 in US, Japan and Europe. He synthesized many advanced materials for biomedical, environmental, and energy-related applications. He has co-authored >1,350 publications, (>210,000 citations, h-index 218) and 72 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 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, 5 major Awards from the American Chemical Society, and thirteen doctorates honoris causa.

Host: Professor Jessica Lamb