We are pleased to announce that Agata Hochół, M.Sc., a first-year doctoral student at the Ignacy Lukasiewicz Doctoral School of Rzeszow University of Technology and a member of the Chmielarz Research Group (https://pchmielarz.v.prz.edu.pl/en/group-members), as well as the Student and Doctoral Scientific Circle of Chemical and Pharmaceutical Engineering "IPSUM" (https://ipsum.prz.edu.pl) received the first prize in the Andrzej Pomianowski competition for a master's thesis in chemistry, biology or physics on issues of surface physicochemistry and interfacial phenomena, organized by the Jerzy Haber Institute of Catalysis and Surface Chemistry of the Polish Academy of Sciences (https://ikifp.edu.pl/aktualnosci/konkurs-im-andrzeja-pomianowskiego-2/).
In her master's thesis, Ms. Agata Hochół developed green chemistry-inspired procedures for grafting ampholytic polymer brushes from silicon wafer surfaces by atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP). The obtained polymers with complex architectures consisted of a poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) (PHEMA) core and side chains composed of a polycationic poly(2-(dimethylamino)ethyl methacrylate) (PDMAEMA) block and a polyanionic poly(tert-butyl acrylate) (PtBA) block. The success of the each synthesis steps was confirmed by atomic force microscopy (AFM). At the same time, the obtained polymer bottlebrushes are characterized by a wide application potential and the possibility of applications, among others, in drug delivery systems, as well as in advanced electronic systems such as batteries, accumulators and as anti-corrosion coatings, due to the presence of pH-sensitive deflections on the surface of the material conditioning various interfacial interactions, such as changing the wetting contact angles of the surface by liquids of different nature.
Congratulations and we wish you continued success ❗️
For more information about the competition, visit:
https://ikifp.edu.pl/aktualnosci/konkurs-im-andrzeja-pomianowskiego-2/
Aktualności Katedry Chemii Fizycznej na Wydziale Chemicznym Politechniki Rzeszowskiej
