Dottorato in MATERIALS FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

The synthesis of molecularly imprinted polymers (MIP) has established itself as an indispensable tool in generating biomimetic sensors, i.e. systems that aim at implementing bioanalogous recognition abilities into artificial materials. The focus of research has shifted towards implementing MIPs into sensors and assays that are inherently useful for real-life applications, which has brought substantial attention to questions such as reproducibility and obustness of MIP-based sensors. Especially radically polymerized systems pose a substantial challenge here: the inherently statistical polymerization process makes it difficult to achieve robust synthesis. This seminar talk will highlight two aspects that the group in Vienna has been utilizing to improve applicability in recent years: implementing controlled radical polymerization for generating surface-imprinted thin films and solid-phase synthesis to obtain so-called “MIP nanobodies”, as pioneered in the groups for S. Piletsky in Leicester and K. Haupt in Compiègne. It will cover different analytes ranging from small molecules and eptides to nanoand microsized structures.

26/06/2026