Webinar

Join us for a series of lectures featuring materials sciences expert Professor Rigoberto Advincula of Case Western Reserve University! With considerable expertise in the design, synthesis and characterization of new polymers and nanoscale materials, Prof. Advincula has designed a series of lectures in order to share the latest developments in nanomaterials research in a variety of applications and fields. There is high interest on dendrimers and hyperbranched macromolecules for their high density of peripheral functional groups, core-shell functionality, and small hydrodynamic volume footprint. They are classified as soft matter and also true macromolecular nanomaterials. They have the potential to be new drug delivery vehicles, sensors, reactive agents, catalysts, and theranostic molecules. Synthesis of dendrimers can be done using divergent and convergent approaches employing especially designed monomers capable of generational growth and controlled topology or branching. A number of analytical tools have been used to investigate their solution properties including scattering methods, fluorescence labeling, and electrochemistry. The use of techniques like transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) have been demonstrated for their analytical visualization. Foremost is the use of AFM to characterize their disposition on flat substrate surfaces and ability to investigate film forming properties and nanostructuring. This webinar will outline the study of these interesting materials and the advantage of using AFM.