Final Report Summary - FUMASSY (Functional materials through surfactant self-assembly)
The Marie Curie Career Integration Grant FUMASSY was granted to support in establishing a new, independent research group when the principal investigator (PI) returned to Finland. The research, titled “Functional materials through surfactant self-assembly (FUMASSY)” applies computational and theoretical methods toward engineering drug delivery, biosensing, and separation membrane systems based on surfactant self-assembly. The PIs research is computational and theoretical and focuses on self-assembling therapeutic molecule carriers including micelles, vesicles and polymer complexes and on combining inorganic nanoscale carbon and amphiphilic aggregates toward developing biocompatible functional materials for sensing, medicine, and coatings.
Within FUMASSY, we have characterized micelles and polymers as drug carriers and amphiphile interactions with strongly hydrophobic carbon nanotubes and graphene in aqueous environments. In particular, we have generated understanding on therapeutic molecule carrier structure and dynamics, as well as, specific, microscopic packing and release mechanism for nucleic acid transport. In studying amphiphile interactions with carbon nanotubes, we have resolved molecular curvature related guidelines for engineering carbon nanotube dispersion and adsorption barriers. In both research lines, the long term aim is to generate sufficient understanding to enable widespread control over the resulting materials properties and function.
Project website: http://chemistry.aalto.fi/en/research/novelmaterials/moreabout/
Within FUMASSY, we have characterized micelles and polymers as drug carriers and amphiphile interactions with strongly hydrophobic carbon nanotubes and graphene in aqueous environments. In particular, we have generated understanding on therapeutic molecule carrier structure and dynamics, as well as, specific, microscopic packing and release mechanism for nucleic acid transport. In studying amphiphile interactions with carbon nanotubes, we have resolved molecular curvature related guidelines for engineering carbon nanotube dispersion and adsorption barriers. In both research lines, the long term aim is to generate sufficient understanding to enable widespread control over the resulting materials properties and function.
Project website: http://chemistry.aalto.fi/en/research/novelmaterials/moreabout/