Prof. Dr. Nicolas Giuseppone
Chemistry
External Senior Fellow
October 2017 - September 2019
CV
Nicolas Giuseppone received his PhD in asymmetric catalysis (laboratory of Prof. H.B. Kagan), performed a post-doctoral research in total synthesis (laboratory of Prof. K.C. Nicolaou), and entered the field of supramolecular chemistry as an Assistant Professor (laboratory of Prof. J.-M. Lehn, Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1987). In 2008 he started his own research group, became Associate Professor, and was awarded the ERC Starting Grant from the European Research Council in 2010. In 2013 he was promoted Full Professor of Chemistry at the University of Strasbourg (Unistra) and nominated as a junior member of the Institut Universitaire the France (IUF). In 2016, he was promoted Distinguished Professor (Classe Exceptionnelle) at Unistra.
He is deputy director of the Institut Charles Sadron (since 2012), nominated referent for research integrity at the University of Strasbourg (since 2017), and he has been elected as the next director of the Research Federation on Materials and Nanoscience for the Grand Est region (from January 2018).
His research interests are focused on supramolecular chemistry, molecular machines, and functional materials.
Selected Publications
- Foy, J. T. ; Li, Q. ; Goujon, A. ; Colard-Itté, J.-R. ; Fuks, G. ; Moulin, E. ; Schiffmann, O. ; Dattler, D. ; Funeriu, D. P. ; Giuseppone, N." Dual-light control of nanomachines that integrate motor and modulator subunits". Nature Nanotech. 2017, 12, 540-545.
- Li, Q.; Fuks, G.; Moulin, E.; Maaloum, M.; Rawiso, M.; Kulic, I.; Foy, J. T.; Giuseppone, N. "Macroscopic contraction of a gel induced by the integrated motion of light-driven molecular motors". Nature Nanotech. 2015, 10, 161-165.
- Du, G.; Moulin, E.; Jouault, N.; Buhler, E.; Giuseppone, N." Muscle-like Supramolecular Polymers - Integrated Motions from Thousands of Molecular Machines". Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2012, 51, 12504-12508.
- Faramarzi, V.; Niess, F.; Moulin, E.; Maaloum, M.; Dayen, J.-F.; Beaufrand, J.-B.; Zanettini, S.; Doudin, B.; Giuseppone, N. "Light-triggered self-construction of supramolecular organic nanowires as metallic interconnects". Nature Chem. 2012, 4, 485-490.
- Tauk, L.; Schröder, A.; Decher, G.; Giuseppone, N. " Hierarchical Functional Gradients of pH-Responsive Self-Assembled Monolayers using Dynamic Covalent Chemistry on Surfaces". Nature Chem. 2009, 1, 649-656.
FRIAS-Projekt
Implementation of Light-Powered Nanomachines into Polymer Bulk: From Fundamentals of Active Matter to Functional, Life-Inspired Polymer Materials
Since they work far from thermodynamic equilibrium, biological systems exhibit active and adaptive functionalities that surpass the passive properties of present-day synthetic materials. Molecular machines are at the core of such biological out-of-equilibrium systems, and transduce energy (e.g. light, chemical) into mechanical motion and produce functions (e.g. transport, movement) from their mechanics. Our long-term vision is to develop concepts for the integration of artificial nanomachines into polymer bulk materials and develop the field of far-from- equilibrium, active polymer bulk materials (“active plastics”) – which would result in an entirely new class of life-like materials. This includes in particular to (i) realize a synthetic integration of light-powered nanomotors (capable of rotating at MHz frequency in unconstrained environment) into purposefully engineered polymers, (ii) understand the fundamental operational principles by a systematic study, and (iii) capitalize on this understanding with a first material implementation in the framework of light-adaptiven mechanical high-performance biomimetic nanocomposites, inspired by the structure in mother-of-pearl. To tackle the underlying interdisciplinary challenges, we merge our expertise in a coherent research program on several levels: molecular machines, organic and supramolecular chemistry, macromolecular engineering, polymer physics, advanced characterization, materials science and non-equilibrium active matter.