E5 - Dr Edwin Johnson | Smart Surfaces of the Future

I am joined (in late Dec 2020) by Dr Edwin Johnson, a recent PhD graduate from the University of Newcastle and current Postdoctoral researcher at the University of Sheffield. We discuss his PhD titled Competition in Polymer Brushes – Understanding specific ion effects in complex environments. Ed’s Twitter @Ed_Johnson_Au Ed’s Google Scholar  Papers: Temperature dependent specific ion effects in mixed salt environments on a thermoresponsive poly(oligoethylene glycol methacrylate) brush - https://doi.org/10.1039/C8CP06644B Interplay of Composition, pH, and Temperature on the Conformation of Multi-stimulus-responsive Copolymer Brushes: Comparison of Experiment and Theory - https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.langmuir.0c00424 Enrichment of Charged Monomers Explains Non-monotonic Polymer Volume Fraction Profiles of Multi-stimulus Responsive Copolymer Brushes - https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acs.langmuir.0c01502 The direction of influence of specific ion effects on a pH and temperature responsive copolymer brush is dependent on polymer charge -https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polymer.2020.123287 Timestamps: 00:00:57 – Intro 00:01:40 – Decision to do a PhD 00:03:33 – Changes through the PhD 00:05:19 – Submitting a PhD during COVID 00:08:20 – Break down of Ed’s Thesis. Bridging chemistry and biology with polymers. What is a polymer brush? 00:15:00 – Throwing out logistics for potential applications. Spider-man gloves. Sound responsive polymers for deafness? 00:20:21 – Projects of the thesis. 00:21:00 – Specific ion effects. 00:23:20 – Mixtures of salts; mixtures of polymers 00:25:26 – Multi-stimulus responsive polymers 00:26:05 – Neutron Reflectometry 00:26:47 – Competitive specific ion effects 00:29:14 – ANSTO – researching with neutrons. Nuclear research. 00:34:14 – Neutron Reflectometry vs Ellipsometry – how they work 00:37:45 – Music – the importance of other passions during a PhD. 00:39:21 – Live Melodica music 00:40:21 – Exercise (Running and Street Orienteering) 00:41:42 – Travelling during the PhD 00:44:16 – Moving to the UK. Postdoctoral position the University of Sheffield. Concern about travelling. 00:55:00 – Differences in research with the Netherlands 00:57:26 – Anything you could research. 01:05:44 – Working hard, or smart? 01:10:38 – Wrapping up Bonus Content 01:12:55 – Food science – so complicated at the chemical level. 01:18:26 – Ethics discussion on using cadavers on bypass for research? 01:25:00 – Hype science and journalism. 01:27:42 – How does smell work? 01:29:26 – Mouth feel science. 01:32:12 – Aussie chat. 01:34:44 – Call out for Aussie things for Ed to take to the UK?