IIN Frontiers in Nanotechnology Seminar Series – Françoise M. Winnik

Professor Françoise Winnik

Department of Chemistry
University of Montreal
Hosted by Professor Jiaxing Huang

Abstract

Over the last few years, in collaboration with researchers in the Center for Materials Nanoarchitectonics (NIMS, Japan), I investigated the chemical modifications of boron nitride nanotubes (BNNT) as a platform for biological mechanistic studies and  the synthesis of silicon nanoparticles (SiNP) as non-toxic alternatives to cadmium-based quantum dots.  Of particular importance, we obtained  metal-doped SiNPs  emitting with high quantum yield in  the near IR “biological window”¹.  In the area of BNNTs, we discovered that simple amino acids are remarkably efficient in de-bundling pristine BNNTs,² yielding hydrophilic BNNTs that were converted to sensors, anti-corrosive agents and drug delivery systems.

(1) S. Chandra et al, Angew.Chem. Int.Ed  doi:10.1002/anie.201700436; (2). R W L Lau, J. Phys.Chem. C, J. Phys. Chem. C. 2013, 117, 19568.

Biography

Françoise. M. Winnik, a professor in the chemistry department of the  University of Montreal, holds cross-appointments in the Center for Materials Nanoarchitectonics (MANA), NIMS, Tsukuba (Japan) and the Chemistry Department of the University of  Helsinki (Finland).  She is the Editor in Chief of Langmuir, the ACS journal of interface and colloids science. Her expertise is in the chemistry of water soluble polymers, their self-assembly in water and their applications in nanomedicine and as delivery vehicles.  She is also involved in the synthesis and bio-applications of quantum dots, gold nanoparticles, and nanotubes.