Overview
Soft underwater adhesives based on weak molecular interactions comprise a rapidly emerging field of research. Although the majority of recent literature on underwater adhesion has focused on strong (covalent) interactions, recent insights into the critical role of weak interactions in organismal adhesion in biology has inspired researchers to incorporate these interactions into bulk synthetic and biomimetic model systems. Soft adhesive materials often need to balance bulk mechanical properties and effective bond formation to offer tuneable, rapid, and in many cases reversible underwater adhesion. Without the need for chemical crosslinking reactions potentially dangerous to human health, soft underwater adhesives are promising candidates for various biomedical applications.
Biography
I am a researcher in the field of physics and chemistry of soft matter, a large family of materials spanning many food and cosmetic products (emulsions, etc.), polymers, as well as living tissues. My main research interests are structure properties relationships in soft matter and smart, bio-inspired materials. The first area deals with understanding the physical and mechanical properties of soft materials as a function of their structure at small (micro and nano) scales. The latter regards learning lessons from natural systems and organisms and applying them to engineering and materials science problems. Currently I am a postdoctoral researcher in IS2M where I work on the development of surgical adhesives in collaboration with a biomed startup. During my PhD in polymer physical chemistry at ESPCI Paris, Sorbonne University, I studied bio-inspired, soft hydrogels as underwater adhesives. In both undergrad and masters, I majored in polymer engineering in Amir Kabir University of Technology.
