Invited Speaker

Abstract: The unique feature to respond to small changes in its environment has made the stimuli-responsive polymers very promising in the generation of smart-materials for medical and engineering applications. Very appealing seems to be their combination with plasmonic nanoparticles to yield nanocomposites which combine and/or modify the intriguing properties of the individual components, or exhibit novel properties. Within this presentation, we will highlight some of our recent progress in their successful integration through a series of strategies based on the intervention of methacrylic monomers with a hidden thiol group, to accomplish highly desirable features of hydrodynamic size compression, amphiphilic, pH-/thermo-responsiveness, and enhanced optical properties for biological and technological applications of our functional nanocomposites. Actually, our polymer-stabilized NPs in organic and aqueous solvents offer a great chemical playground for directed self-assembly, by simply changing composition of the solvent, hydrophobicity of monomers; which expands their potential applications. A modulation of the optical and swelling properties of the materials will be exposed. Additionally, development of smart substrates for antibacterial uses, via innovative in situ reactive and reduction pathway, will be considered.

Keywords: Plasmonic nanomaterials, smart nanocomposites, nanogels, eccentric/Janus morphologies, optical-swelling properties, surface coatings

Acknowledgements: The grant "TED2021-129959B-C22" from MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and the European Union “NextGeneration EU”/PRTR», and PID2022-1377QNB-I00 of Spain.

Biography: N. Guarrotxena is a Research Scientist at the Institute of Polymer Science and Technology (ICTP) of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), Spain, and an External Expertise Consultant on I+D+i Management and Policy for National and International Agencies. She was vice director of ICTP-CSIC (2001-2005) and visiting professor at UCSB-USA and UCI-USA (2008-2011 and 2019). Her research focuses on the synthesis and assembly of hybrid nanomaterials, smart nanomaterials and nano gels, nanoplasmonics, and their nano-biotechnology and green energy applications. She has published many papers in reputed journals and has been serving as an editorial board member of repute.