Research

How do you design a complex polymer?

High throughput (HTP) screening has proved to be a powerful tool in the design of molecules and materials where the exact properties are difficult to predict from first principles. HTP techniques have been often applied to small molecules (as in small molecule drug design) but rarely to polymers due to the lack of appropriate synthetic methods. 

Our group has introduced a number of novel techniques for the removal of oxygen in controlled radical polymerisation reactions. This, in combination with automated synthesis, machine learning and advances in computational chemistry is unlocking a whole range of complex problems in biomaterials design.

Degassing can be performed either using a photocatalyst, or using the enzyme glucose oxidase. Both processes are able to scrub oxygen (even at very low concentrations of enzyme/catalyst) faster than diffusion from the surface can occur. We have applied this work to low volume polymer synthesis and to enable a polymerisation based amplification of enzymatic signal for biosensing.

Selected seminal papers (for all publications see here)

Some other important contributions from our lab:

Stabilisation of enzymes within polymer nanoparticles: We have developed an approach that uses polyion complexes to assemble a crosslinked shell around a range of enzymes, which stabilises them against aggressive environments. Because each enzyme is individually wrapped we have excellent control over the properties of the polymer wrapping.


Controlled polyolefins via radical polymerisation: In 2017 we developed a new set of reactions to prepare homo- and block- polyolefins, including polypropylene and polybutylene, by post-polymerisation modification of RAFT polymers. This represented the first and only route to truly well-defined block polyolefins using a controlled radical polymerisation.


Peptide and protein delivery: There are relatively few convenient methods for delivering small hydrophilic peptides to cells. In 2017, we introduced a novel nanogel made by emulsion polymerisation, which was very efficient at delivering small charged molecules. We have now adapted these nanoparticles for the delivery of therapeutic peptides. See for example:


Peptide directed self-assembly of polymeric nanoparticles:  During my PhD I developed a range of (alt D,L) cyclic peptides to drive the assembly of polymers into poylmeric nanotubes. These can be used as artificial membranes and ion channels. See for example: