Overview

We seek to understand and exploit the non-ergodic character of polymer self-assembly in the design of biologically relevant constructs with complex functions. Our research is focused on establishing structure-property relationships of hierarchical assemblies by tuning the molecular characteristics of the building blocks and the assembly method. Specifically, we are interested in producing novel polymer-based colloids with controlled and responsive surface properties, and developing methods for their characterization.

Publications

Santos, J. L.; Li, Y.; Culver H. R.; Yu, M. S.; Herrera-Alonso, M. “Conducting polymer nanoparticles decorated with collagen mimetic peptides for collagen targeting”. Chem. Comm. 2014

Aguirre-Chagala, Y. E.; Santos, J. L.; Aguilar-Castillo, B. A.; Herrera-Alonso, M. “Synthesis of copolymers from phenylboronic acid-installed cyclic carbonates”. ACS Macro Lett 2014, 3, 353-358. dx.doi.org/10.1021/mz500047p

Santos, J. L.; Herrera-Alonso, M. “Kinetically arrested assemblies of architecturally distinct block copolymers”, Macromolecules, 2014, 47, 137-145. dx.doi.org/10.1021/ma402047e

Luo, H.; Santos, J. L.; Herrera-Alonso, M. “Toroidal structures from brush amphiphiles”, Chem. Commun. 2014, 50, 536-538.  DOI: 10.1039/c3cc46834h    

Aguirre-Chagala, Y. E.; Santos, J. L.; Herrera-Nájera, R.; Herrera-Alonso, M. “Organocatalytic copolymerization of a cyclic carbonate bearing protected 2,2-bis(hydroxymethyl) groups and D,L-lactide. Effect of hydrophobic block chemistry on nanoparticle properties”. Macromolecules 2013, 46, 5871-5881.  dx.doi.org/10.1021/ma400894t

 

D’Addio, S. M.; Saad, W.; Ansell, S. M.; Squiers, J. J.; Adamson, D. H.; Herrera-Alonso, M.; Wohl, A. R.; Hoye, T. R.; Macosko, C. W.; Mayer, L. D., Vauthier, C.; Prud’homme, R. K. “Effects of block copolymer properties on nanocarrier protection from in vivo clearance”. J. Controlled Release 2012, 162, 208-217.

Martinez-Estrada, A.; Chavez-Castellanos, A. E.; Herrera-Alonso, M.; Herrera-Najera, R. “Comparative study of the effect of sulfur on the morphology and rheological properties of SB- and SBS-modified asphalt”, J. App. Polym. Sci. 2010, 115, 3409-3422.

D’Addio, S. M.; Kafka, C.; Akbulut, M.; Beattie, P.; Saad, W.; Herrera, M.; Kennedy, M. T.; Prud’homme, R. K. “Novel method for concentrating and drying polymeric nanoparticles: hydrogen bonding coacervate precipitation” Mol. Pharm. 2010, 7, 557-564.

Ramanathan, T.; Abdala, A. A.; Stankovich, S.; Dikin, D. A.; Herrera-Alonso, M.; Piner, R. D.; Adamson, D. H.; Liu, J.; Chen, X.; Ruoff, R. S.; Nguyen, S. T.; Aksay, I. A.; Prud’homme, R. K.; Brinson, L. C. “Functionalized Graphene Sheets for Polymer Nanocomposites”, Nature Nanotech. 2008, 3, 327-331.

Herrera-Alonso, M.; McAllister, M. J.; Aksay, I. A.; Prud’homme, R. K. “Intercalation and stitching of graphite oxide with diaminoalkanes”, Langmuir 2007, 23, 10644-10649.

McAllister, M. J.; Li, J. L.; Adamson, D. H.; Schniepp, H. C.; Abdala, A. A.; Liu, J.; Herrera-Alonso, M.; Milius, D. L.; Car, R.; Prud’homme, R. K.; Aksay, I. A. “Single sheet functionalized graphene by oxidation and thermal expansion of graphite”, Chem. Mater. 2007, 19, 4396-4404.

Jia, X. Q.; Herrera-Alonso, M.; McCarthy, T. J. “Nylon surface modification. Part 1. Targeting the amide groups for selective introduction of reactive functionalities”, Polymer 2006, 47, 4916-4924.

Schniepp, H. C.; Li, J. L., McAllister, M. J.; Sai, H.; Herrera-Alonso, M.; Adamson, D. H.; Prud’homme, R. K.; Car, R.; Saville, D. A.; Aksay, I. A. “Functionalized single graphene sheets derived from splitting graphite oxide”, J. Phys. Chem. B 2006, 110, 8535-8539.

Herrera-Alonso, M.; McCarthy, T. J.; Jia, X. Q. “Nylon surface modification: 2. Nylon-supported composite films”, Langmuir 2006, 22, 1646-1651.

Herrera-Alonso, M.; McCarthy, T. J. “Chemical Surface Modification of Poly(p-xylylene) Thin Films”, Langmuir, 2004, 20, 9184-9189.