Controlled Fusion of Polymer Nanoparticles

My PhD training was in the area of molecular machines and interlocked molecules. Recently I have been working with polymer nanotechnology. In this talk I was discuss both areas of research and suggest how knowledge can be shared between these fields. Specifically, I will present my current work that explores the controlled fusion of polymer nanoparticles by harnessing chemistry that produces nonequilibrium states. Achieving controlled trafficking of material between polymer nanoparticles would allow them to be used as ‘smart containers’. This is a grand challenge, it requires advances in polymer science, nanoscale analysis, synthetic active transport and systems chemistry.