The
Waterloo
Institute
for
Nanotechnology
(WIN)
has
four
main
thematic
research
areas;
Smart
and
Function
Materials,
Connected
Devices,
Next
Generation
Energy
Systems
and
Therapeutics
and
Theranostics.
To
showcase
the
work
going
on
within
these
areas,
we
will
be
holding
monthly
WIN
Thematic
Seminars
featuring
our
members
and
their
research
group
members.
For
this
event
in
the
series,
Professor
Boxin
Zhao
and
PhD
candidate
Lukas
Bauman
from
the
Smart
and
Functional
Materials
theme
will
be
giving
a
seminar
on
"Smart
Polymers
and
Bio-nanomaterials
for
Advanced
Sustainable
Manufacturing".
Functional
polymers
and
finely
tuned
surface
and
interfacial
properties
(e.g.
adhesion,
friction,
and
wetting)
are
essential
to
the
development
of
advanced
materials
and
innovative
technologies
to
address
the
global
challenges
with
sustainability
and
human
wellbeing.
In
this
talk,
Prof
Zhao
will
present
an
overview
of
his
research
activities
on
surface
science
and
bionanomaterials
and
the
development
of
polymer
nanotechnologies
including
bio-inspired
adhesives,
state-shifting
polymer
gels,
and
smart
window
materials.
His
PhD
student
Lukas
Bauman
will
discuss
his
thesis
research
on
the
development
of
functional
hydrogels
for
healthcare
applications,
where
thermo-responsive
polymer
hydrogels
are
devised
for
large
format
3D
printing
with
high
fidelity.
The
being-developed
material
shows
a
significant
promise
as
a
medical
hydrogel
mask
for
burn
injuries
as
it
can
be
printed
in
sizes
large
enough
to
fit
a
human
face
with
high
dimensional
accuracy;
it
also
has
the
ability
to
load
with
drugs
such
as
painkillers.