Title: Design of new hybrid nanomaterials for nanocatalysis and drug delivery
Directors: Pong WU & Belén ALBELA
Discipline: Chemistry
Status: Completed Project
Starting date: 2016
Completion date : XXX
Directors
Summary
Context of the collaboration
The group of Pr. Laurent Bonneviot from the Chemical Department at ENS Lyon has established a partnership with the Shanghai Key Laboratory of Green Chemistry and Chemical Processes at the East China Normal University (ECNU) directed by Pr. He Ming-Yuan since 2005. This collaboration has been very fruitful for both laboratories and some Chinese students have had the opportunity to come to ENS Lyon to do a PhD thesis in partnership between ENS and ECNU (PROSFER program). The main projects involving both laboratories have been in the field of green chemistry and eco-efficient products and processes. And as a result, a collaboration has been established between ENS, ECNU and E2P2 (Eco-Efficient Products and Processes), an International Research Laboratory (CNRS-ENS-ECNU-Solvay) that was set up in November 2011at Shanghai.
In parallel to these activities centred on green chemistry, we would like to develop a new research project based on the design of new nanoparticles for drug delivery and nanocatalysis implying this time professors Wu Peng from ECNU and Belén Albela from ENS Lyon.
Objective of the project
Fast and easy syntheses of mesoporous nanoparticles of novel compositions are highly studied nowadays owing to their potential applications in various important societal fields such as medical imaging for diagnosis, drug delivery for cancer therapy, diffusion efficient refining catalysis for petrochemical industry, nanoseparation for purification of spoiled water and as support for novel catalytic routes in fine chemicals design. Control on the morphology and size of the nanoparticle is a key issue to optimize the properties of the final material depending on the desired application.
The objective of the project is to develop new hybrid materials based on silica, carbon and other inorganic oxides nanoparticules with potential applications in nano catalysis and drug delivery. The synthesis of the nanoparticles and their stabilisation will be performed in collaboration between ENS and ECNU. The applications in nano catalysis will be developed at ECNU and the applications in drug delivery at ENS Lyon.
We propose to study the synthesis parameters involved in the control of the size and porosity of the nanoparticles (silica, carbon and carbon-silica) to fine-tune the particle properties depending on the final application. In particular, for drug delivery, stabilization of the nanocarriers in a medium mimicking the blood is required. Most of the particles trend to aggregate in such conditions. One possible solution is a chemical modification of the external surface in order to avoid aggregation. Different functions will be tested such as polyethylene glycol or polycarboxylates in order to stabilize the nanoparticles.
Concerning the application in the field of catalysis, carbon and carbon-silica nanoparticles present a great potential. Those nanoparticles modified with acid groups could be tested as catalysts in reactions such as the alkylation reaction of m-cresol using tert-butyl alcohol as alkylation agent and the catalytic decomposition of cumene hydroperoxide into phenol and acetone.
Investigators involved in the project
- WU Peng, Full professor ECNU,
- HE Ming-Yuan, Full professor ECNU,
- ZHANG Kun, Associate professor ECNU,
- PANG Jun-Ling, PhD Student ECNU,
- ALBELA Belén, Associate professor ENS Lyon,
- BONNEVIOT Laurent, Full professor ENS Lyon,
- TURQUET François-Xavier, PhD Student ENS Lyon,
- LU Xinnan, PhD Student ECNU and ENS Lyon.