Chemistry Colloquium: Xavier Banquy

The Department of Chemistry in the College of Arts and Sciences is pleased to welcome Xavier Banquy, a professor at the University of Montreal.

Title: Bottlebrush Polymers for Surface Engineering and Nano-medicine

Abstract: Nature has long been an endless source of inspiration for poets, painters, composers, and even macromolecular engineers. Nature-inspired materials seek to replicate structural and functional properties that are otherwise unattainable through conventional design approaches. Numerous bioinspired materials have already become part of everyday life, from shark skin-inspired swimsuits and burr-inspired Velcro to water-repellent paints mimicking the nanostructured surface of lotus leaves. In the biomedical field, bioinspired materials are extensively studied for applications such as lifelong prosthetics, tissue engineering scaffolds, and bioadhesives for wound closure. Our research focuses on bioinspired materials designed to modulate interfacial forces, such as lubrication and adhesion—properties with significant potential for treating conditions like dry eye syndrome and arthritis.

Over the past decade, we have developed hyperbranched macromolecules known as bottlebrush polymers and tailored their properties for various biomedical applications. These polymers, characterized by their branched architecture, resemble the molecular structures found in mucus and synovial fluid, which play crucial roles in lubrication and biological defense. Our investigations have explored the behavior of bottlebrush polymers at solid-liquid interfaces and, more recently, in biological environments using a structure-property relationship approach. We have systematically compared monoblock and multiblock bottlebrushes, assessing their lubricating and antifouling properties across diverse media. Leveraging surface-sensitive techniques such as the Surface Forces Apparatus, we have elucidated the correlations between polymer architecture, conformation, and interfacial properties. Our latest work extends these studies into living systems, focusing on bottlebrush interactions at cartilage surfaces, the ocular environment, and within the bloodstream. Notably, our findings demonstrate that molecular brushes are promising candidates for drug delivery to the brain and show strong potential as chondroprotective agents for joint health.