Nicole Conte, Graduate Student, Boyes Lab, GW Department of Chemistry

The Department of Chemistry Presents:  Nicole Conte, Graduate Student, Boyes Lab, GW Department of Chemistry

Biofouling, or the accumulation and proliferation of biomaterial and microorganisms on surfaces, plagues a wide range of industries, from water treatment and marine transport to medical care. Paints and other polymer coatings developed to prevent biofouling struggle with depletion, mechanical damage and chemical instability. Covalent surface attachment and improved stability of functionalized polymers offer a means to overcome these challenges. We have developed a series of aromatic polyamide brushes functionalized to create antifouling and antimicrobial surfaces. Aromatic polyamides are well known for their superior mechanical and thermal properties but have been largely absent from brush work due to their reliance on step-growth polymerization for synthesis. Our group has successfully applied substituent effect chain-growth condensation polymerization to brush synthesis, resulting in the first well-defined grafted from aromatic polyamide brushes. Expansion of these brush systems has led to the successful synthesis of various polyethylene glycol modified brushes with proven antifouling potential. Further development has led to a series of both zwitterionic and cationic charged polymer brushes prepared by post polymerization modification for both antifouling and antimicrobial applications, respectively. Continued research seeks to understand the properties and potential of these novel materials. 

BIO

Nicole received her BS in chemistry from Emmanuel College in Boston, MA. In the Spring of 2020, she joined the Boyes lab at GWU. Her current research focuses on functionalization of aromatic polyamides for anti-fouling and anti-microbial surfaces.