Purdue University School of Chemical Engineering Graduate Seminar Series - Centennial Seminar Dr. Surya Mallapragada Chair, Department of Chemical & Biological Engineering and Stanley Chair of Interdisciplinary Engineering Iowa State University "Bioinspired Materials" February 17, 2011 3:30 - 4:30 p.m. FRNY G140 Abstract: In this highly interdisciplinary and collaborative effort, we are designing hierarchically self-assembling templates and using bioinspired methods for room temperature synthesis of several energy-relevant hybrid materials with hierarchical order. We have designed and synthesized novel ionic block copolymers, block copolypeptides, as well as protein polymers that exhibit hierarchical self-assembly from nanoscale micelles to macroscale gels and solids, and serve as templates for biomineralization. Mineralization proteins and peptides, covalently or non-covalently attached to the organic templates, were used to control the growth and placement of inorganic nanocrystals such as magnetite, cobalt ferrite. Mn-doped magnetite, hydroxyapatite and zirconia in the gels. We are using a combination of solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), scattering, and electron microscopy techniques to investigate the nanostructure and composition, and other characterization techniques to investigate the magneto-mechanical properties of these hybrid materials. These NMR techniques were used to prove the formation of nanocomposites, and also provide compositional information about the nanoscale inorganic layer at the organic-inorganic interface, which is very difficult to obtain using other established techniques. In addition, small angle X-ray and neutron scattering studies of these hybrid nanocomposites at Argonne indicated that the structure of the organic templates was preserved even in the presence of the inorganic nanoparticles and did not significantly alter the self-assembly process of the underlying template. The magnetic nanocrystals synthesized in the presence of the mineralization proteins exhibited distinct magnetic properties. We are developing and implementing molecular simulations using high performance computational approaches as a powerful tool to understand the underlying principles of self-assembly of complex structures, phase transformation between competing phases, as well as the response of a self assembled system to external stimuli. Bio: Surya Mallapragada is currently Department Chair of Chemical and Biological Engineering and Stanley Chair of Interdisciplinary Engineering at Iowa State University. She received her chemical engineering education from IIT Bombay (B.Tech, 1993) and Purdue University (Ph.D., 1996). She has courtesy appointments in the Materials Science and Engineering and Neuroscience departments at ISU. She is also a Senior Scientist and has served as Program Director of Materials Chemistry and Biomolecular Materials at Ames Laboratory, a USDOE laboratory. Her research interests are in the area of polymeric biomaterials, specifically in drug/gene delivery and tissue engineering, and in the area of bioinspired materials. Her work has been recognized by several awards including a NSF Career award, a 3M Non-tenured faculty award, ISU Foundation Early as well as Mid-Career Excellence in Research awards, and a Big 12 Rising Star Award. She was named one of the top 100 young innovators by MIT's Technology Review magazine and is a Fellow of two societies - AIMBE and AAAS. She was a member of the Defense Sciences Study Group and of the NIH Biomaterials and Biointerfaces Study Section. Debbie Luedtke Deborah P. Luedtke, Secretary School of Chemical Engineering Purdue University Forney Hall, Room 1144 480 Stadium Mall Drive West Lafayette, IN 47907-2100 Tel: 765-494-4365 / Fax: 765-494-0805 Email: dpmcdani@purdue.edu<mailto:dpmcdani@purdue.edu>