Colloque - Advancing Biomaterials: Biomimetic and Biohybrid Innovations - Harm-Anton Klok : Surface-Grafted Polymer Brush Films: Leveraging Structural Complexity For New Properties and Functions

Sébastien LecommandouxCollège de FranceInnovation technologique Liliane Bettencourt (2024-2025)Année 2024-2025Colloque - Advancing Biomaterials: Biomimetic and Biohybrid InnovationsHarm-Anton Klok : Surface-Grafted Polymer Brush Films: Leveraging Structural Complexity For New Properties and FunctionsHarm-Anton KlokProfesseur, EPFLRésuméSurface-initiated polymerization is a unique way to produce thin, functional polymer films. As polymer chains are grown from surfaces that are modified with initiators or chain transfer agents to mediate chain growth, this process ensures a unidirectional growth and net parallel alignment of the polymer tethers. These surface-grafted polymer brushes have a complex nanoscale structure that is characterized, amongst others, by a non-uniform segment density profile. This presentation will highlight 3 examples of surface-grafted polymer brushes with unique non-biofouling and lubrication characteristics, as well as piezo- and pyroelectric properties, which demonstrate the intricate relationship between nanoscale structure and properties for surface-grafted polymer brushes.Harm-Anton KlokHarm-Anton Klok is Full Professor at the Institutes of Materials, and Chemical Sciences and Engineering at the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) (Lausanne, Switzerland). He studied chemical technology at the University of Twente (Enschede, The Netherlands) from 1989 to 1993 and received his Ph.D. in 1997 from the University of Ulm (Germany) after working with Martin Möller. After postdoctoral research with David N. Reinhoudt (University of Twente) and Samuel I. Stupp (University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, USA), he joined the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research (Mainz, Germany) in early 1999 as a project leader in the group of Klaus Müllen. In March 2003 he joined EPFL.