Topic: Augmented Interfacing of Bioconjugate π-Materials
Speaker: Dong June Ahn
Time: 16：00, October 22, 2018
Venue: Room 402, Building of State Key Laboratory of Luminescent Materials and Devices, Wushan Campus
Abstract: Organic small molecules and macromolecules having p-moieties have been extensively investigated since they express attractive optical and electrical functions that offer rosy pictures in applications of modern electronics and energy-related devices. Nature, in the meantime, works with abundant biomolecules such as DNAs, RNAs, proteins, etc. making themselves distinct from other materials in a sense that they can recognize through specific bindings to target species. Therefore, as we attempt successful conjugation of such biomolecules with functional p-molecules and/or macromolecules, new fields of applications face us especially in technology convergent realms related to medicine and biology. There have been various research outcomes by eminent scientists and engineers contributing to this goal. In the present talk, we will introduce our efforts to advancing technologies to this end. Subjects we cover can involve conjugated polymer-based functional materials and sensors [1], bio-functionalized OLED particles [2], and recent advancement in their computational chemistry models [3].
References
[1] Ahn et al., J. Am. Chem. Soc. (2003, 2005), Adv. Mater. (2003), Acc. Chem. Res. (2008), Small (2016, 2018), Nat. Communications (2018), and unpublished results.
[2] Ahn et al., Nat. Communications (2016), Nanoscale (2018), and unpublished results.
[3] Ahn et al., Macromolecules (2017), and unpublished results
Biography：
Dong June Ahn received his B.S. and M.S. degrees in Chemical Engineering from Seoul National University, and his Ph. D. degree in the field of Interfacial Engineering in Chemical Engineering major from Purdue University. He worked as a research scientist of the Center for Advanced Materials at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. He joined in 1995 the faculty of the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering at Korea University, where he is now a professor. He served as the President of the Korean Society for Nanomedicine in 2015-16, and the Chair of the Polymer Division of the Korean Institute of Chemical Engineers in 2015-17. He is a member of National Academy of Engineering of Korea.
His research interests include nano-to-macro scale molecular and supramolecular assemblies, surface engineering, and nanobiotechnology based on p-materials and biomolecules. Toward fundamental knowledge, he investigates molecular-level interfacial interaction via empirical and simulation. In applied regime, he develops rapid on-site diagnostic and forensic sensor devices for chemical and biological objects, and invents augmented antifreeze interfaces through nature-mimetic assemblies. His major scientific contributions have been published in high-profile journals including Science, J. Am. Chem. Soc., Adv. Mater., Adv. Func. Mater., Acc. Chem. Res., Nat. Commun., Macromolecules, Small, and others.