Spring ’25 Department Seminars with Dr. Todd Cowen
Title: Rational design and future trends in molecularly imprinted polymer analytical devices
Speaker: Dr. Todd Cowen
University of Verona, Verona, Italy
Date: February 18, 2025, Tuesday
Time: 12:30
Place: Zoom
Zoom Meeting ID: 729 064 5404
Zoom Password: 723291
Abstract:
Molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) are materials with a binding site complementary to a specific molecule, with the binding site originating from the molecule of interest being present during the MIP synthesis. The specificity of the analyte-MIP interaction allows the development of highly selective and sensitive analytical devices. Such devices show many advantages over other sensing elements, principally excelling in terms of range of environment and analyte, with additional benefits in research expenses for production. However, the methods used to synthesise MIPs, and the results of their performance, have been slow to progress. While the emergence of MIP nanoparticles has initiated discussion of nanomedical applications and other ambitious proposals, the design protocol, material composition and understanding of the underlying physical chemistry lags behind. This talk will cover an introduction to molecular imprinting and present examples of their application in analytical chemistry and beyond. This will be followed by a discussion on their design, synthesis and optimisation, and how each of these areas can likely be improved in the future.
Short Biography of the Speaker:
Dr. Todd Cowen completed his PhD in 2018 at the University of Leicester (UK) under the supervision of Prof Sergey Piletsky. His research initially focused on the production of a molecular dynamics-based polymerisation algorithm for the analysis of molecularly imprinted polymer synthesis. This was followed by laboratory research into the effect of thermodynamic parameters on molecularly imprinted polymer nanoparticle properties. These two research areas collectively formed the basis for an exploration into the synthetic mechanism of molecular imprinting, an essential subject in the field but one that is rarely explored. Following a period of work designing molecularly imprinted polymers commercially, and quantum mechanical studies into the effect of environment on chemical bonds, Dr Cowen returned to the University of Leicester for a postdoctoral position researching MIP nanoparticles for enzyme activation and their possibility in separating viruses. Following this he moved to the Norwegian University of Science and Technology where he managed a project producing MIP-based gas sensors for the purpose of pollution monitoring. He now has a position at the University of Verona, researching the plausibility of using biopolymers in the development of more biocompatible and sustainable molecularly imprinted polymers.