With the groups of Eelkema (TUDelft) and van Esch (TUDelft), we wrote a tutorial review on dissipative self-assembly. We describe its unique material properties and give some tentative design rules.
Andreas Locher joins us for his M.Sc. thesis
Andreas is joining us from LMU for a 6 months M.Sc. thesis in our lab . Welcome!
DNA nanotechnology and peptides combined to instruct cells
The recent work published in Nature Communications is highlighted by Northwestern’s school of engineering:
A groundbreaking advancement in materials from Northwestern University could potentially help patients requiring stem cell therapies for spinal cord injuries, stroke, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, arthritic joints or any other condition requiring tissue regeneration, according to a new study.
Eiman Osman joins our lab for a research stay!
All the way from the Gibbs-Davids group at the University of Alberta, Eiman joins us fora research stay organized via our ATUMS program.
Jun Sawada joins the group for a research stay!
All the way from Takata’s group in Japan, Jun Sawada joins us for a research stay! Welcome!
Catharina Theiß and Patrick Schwarz join the group.
Catharina Theiß and Patrick Schwarz join the group for a research practical over the summer semester.
Marta Tena Solsona awarded an MSCA IF fellowship!
Marta Tena Solsona awarded an MSCA IF fellowship to extend her stay at TUM!
Thieme Chemistry Journal Award for Job Boekhoven
Job Boekhoven has been awarded the 2017 Thieme Chemistry Journal Award. The award is intended to recognize promising young professors at the beginning of their career and is made by the editorial boards of the journals Synlett, Synthesis, and Synfacts.
Chi-Ting (Tina) Liu joins the group!
Chi-Ting (Tina) Liu (TUM) has joined the group for an M.Sc. internship.
Caren, Chandan and Steffen join the group!
Caren Wanzke (LMU/NYU), Chandan Maity (TUDelft) and Steffen Amann (TUM) have joined the group. Welcome!
My inaugural lecture at TUM Chemistry 31.05.2016
I will give my inaugural lecture at the TUM chemistry department 31.05.2016 at 17.15.
Benedikt Rieß joins the group
Benedikt Rieß (TUM) has joined the group. Welcome!
Dynamic covalent gel paper selected as Hot Paper in RSC
The Raphael and Marta join the group
Raphael Grötsch (TUM) and Marta Tena-Solsona (Universite Jaume I) have joined the group. Welcome!
Nature Materials publishes our work on Energy Landscapes
The work of Faifan and me at Northwestern University got published in Nature Materials! In this work, we have studied the energy landscapes of peptide amphiphile assemblies and how to navigate through such landscapes. Such knowledge is important because we found that the position in the landscape determines the material properties, including toxicity and ability to promote cell growth. In other words, one molecule in the exact same environment can either be toxic or not depending on its position in its energy landscape.
More here:
Tantakitti, T; Boekhoven, J; Wang, X; Kazantsev, R; Yu, T; Li, J; Zhuang, E; Zandi, F; Ortony, J; Newcomb, C; Palmer, L; Gajendra; S, de la Cruz, M; Schatz, G; Stupp, S;
“Energy landscapes of supramolecular systems determine their function”
Science and Kennislink.nl highlight active materials
Thanks Daan van der Zwaag and Bert Meijer for your perspective on the Active Materials.
And thanks to Kennislink for mentioning our work:
http://www.kennislink.nl/publicaties/brandstof-brengt-synthetisch-celskelet-tot-leven
Science publishes our active materials paper
The research that Wouter Hendriksen and I worked on at TU Delft got published in Science! In this work, we push supramolecular materials out of equilibrium by means of a chemical fuel. It turned out that the active materials we form that way are transient and have a tunable lifetime. Moreover, the materials are self-regenerating as long as sufficient fuel is present. And to our surprise, we found beautiful dynamic fibres that are both growing and collapsing at the same time. See move below:
Boekhoven, J;* Hendriksen,* Koper, B; W; Eelkema, R; van Esch, J;
“Transient assembly of active materials fueled by a chemical reaction”
2015, Science
With perspective by van der Zwaag and Meijer:
“Fueling connections between chemistry and biology”
2015, Science
Starting my research group at TU Munich
As of January 1st 2016, I’ll start my own research group at the chemistry department of the TU Munich. Our research will focus on supramolecular materials with applications ranging from healthcare to robotics. I am looking for motivated graduate students and postdocs.
More information soon.
See more at: https://www.professoren.tum.de/en/boekhoven-job/
Millions Awarded to Northwestern for Energy Research
Two Energy Frontier Research Centers (EFRCs) at Northwestern University will continue to receive multimillion-dollar funding from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) for projects designed to accelerate the scientific breakthroughs needed to build a new 21st-century energy economy.
The Northwestern University Center for Bio-Inspired Energy Science (CBES) Center will receive $12 million over 4 years, and the Argonne-Northwestern Solar Energy Research (ANSER) Center will receive $15.2 million over 4 years.
Samuel I. Stupp, director of Northwestern’s CBES, said the center will use the funds to develop artificial materials, inspired by biological systems, that can change the way we convert and use energy. Stupp is the Board of Trustees Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, Chemistry and Medicine at Northwestern.
– See more at: http://www.northwestern.edu/newscenter/stories/2014/06/millions-awarded-to-northwestern-for-energy-research.html#sthash.uW3j0Pts.dpu
Christina’s paper on “cell death or survival instructed by supramolecular cohesion” highlighted by phys.org
Synthetic peptides use the force to influence cell survival
(Phys.org) —Peptide amphiphiles (PAs) are an emerging class of molecules that can be designed for novel therapies in advanced medicine. They are designed with structural regions that allow them to spontaneously assemble into large complex structures like nanofibers (fibers with diameters of approximately 10 nanometers). Researchers in this study investigated how positively charged PAs interact with cells when water-hating properties and hydrogen bonding (a force that holds the nanofibers together) are altered. Using the BioCARS beamline 14-BM-C at the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science’s Advanced Photon Source (APS) to collect data, they evaluated forces within the biological assemblies.
Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2014-05-synthetic-peptides-cell-survival.html