Title: How To Tame Your Membrane? Bring Specific Properties to Your Polymeric Membranes To Reach Various Applications

Abstract: Polymeric membranes are essential in our daily life in various applications, such as water treatment, gas separation, filtration, food packaging, biomedical applications (plaster, drug delivery), micro- and nanofluids, and fuel cells, thanks to their low cost, their efficiency and their versatility.
A polymeric membrane seems to be only a thin film of plastic, but it hides a more complex and interesting technology. Moreover, it is possible to add specific properties (improved barrier properties, dynamic structure, drug delivery) at this membrane. This kind of membranes is recently receiving growing attention.
In this talk, we will define the main characteristics of polymeric membrane and explore different strategies to improve the membrane properties and to add the targeted functionalities.

Profile: Louise Hespel is an associate professor in the PBS laboratory (Polymers, Biopolymers, Surfaces Laboratory) at University of Rouen since 2017, more specifically teaching general chemistry, polymer chemistry and modification post-polymerization in the chemistry department. She is part of the team MPBM (Materials polymers Barrier and Membranes) which focuses on the elaboration of various polymeric membranes and the study of the diffusion mechanisms of molecules through membranes.
She received her PhD in macromolecular chemistry from INSA (National Institute of Applied Sciences) of Rouen, under the supervision of Pr. Laurence Lecamp in 2013. During her PhD, she synthesized new amphiphilic stimuli-sensitive copolymers from linseed oil and studied the copolymers capacity to form micelles in aqueous media at different conditions of pH and temperature. This work has many applications specially in drug delivery.
From 2014 to 2015, she was a JSPS postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Prof. Kataoka in University of Tokyo where she developed new micelles with pH-detachable PEG-corona. In 2016, she joined ENS (Paris, Ulm) to work with Dr. Emmanuelle Marie and Dr. Christophe Tribet to synthesize a polymer adlayer able to trigger the adhesion and the deadhesion of cells. In PBS laboratory, her research focuses on the modification of polymeric membranes in order to bring specific properties like stimuli-sensitive properties.

Language: English, no interpretation.

Target audience: General audience / everyone at OIST and beyond.
Freely accessible to all OIST members and guests without registration.

This talk will also be broadcast online via Zoom:
Meeting ID: 971 4936 8813
Passcode: 412736

※ Please note that this event may be recorded and the videos uploaded. In addition, photos may be taken during the event. These are intended for publication online (the OIST website, social media, etc.)※