Alfred E. Mann Department of Biomedical Engineering

Speaker: Tim Swager, Ph.D., Professor of Chemistry, MIT

Talk Title: Optical and Electronic Biosensors from Chemistry on Dynamic Colloids

Abstract: This lecture will focus on the design of systems that make use of colloidal materials to create sensors. In one theme, we make use of the reconfiguration of complex liquid emulsions (droplets) and related materials can be triggered chemically, biochemically, or with magnetic fields. Complex liquid droplets behave as optical lens systems and small changes in surface tensions can change focal lengths or cause systems to switch between optically transmissive or scattering states. Central to this scheme is that the fluids in the droplets have different densities and hence are aligned by the earth’s gravity. The induced optical changes can be triggered with chemical, photochemical, or biochemical stimuli and thereby create new generations of sensors. Demonstrations of these methods for the detection of enzyme concentrations, pathogens, and antibodies will be presented. In other efforts, we have used complex colloids to create functionalized versions of polymers that would ordinarily be insoluble and impossible to uniformly functionalize and create high quality nanocomposites. Thiol-Michael reactions were found to be highly efficient on different forms of poly(aniline) and poly(pyrrole). Functionalized poly(pyrrole)s can be deposited on porous cellulosic materials and we have used bioconjugated variants to create new generations of electronic lateral flow assays that are intrinsically quantitative and highly sensitive. These assays can be smart phone readable and promise to greatly expand the utility of this class of biosensors.

Biography: Timothy M. Swager is the John D. MacArthur Professor of Chemistry at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. A native of Montana, he received a BS from Montana State University in 1983 and a Ph.D. from the California Institute of Technology in 1988. After a postdoctoral appointment at MIT he joined University of Pennsylvania 1990-1996 and returned to MIT in 1996 as a Professor of Chemistry and served as the Head of Chemistry from 2005-2010. He has published more than 550 peer-reviewed papers and more than 120 issued/pending patents. Swager’s honors include: Election to the National Academy of Sciences, an Honorary Doctorate from Montana State University, National Academy of Inventors Fellow, The Pauling Medal, The Lemelson-MIT Award for Invention and Innovation, and Election to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. His research interests are in design, synthesis, and study of organic-based electronic, sensory, energy storage, membranes, liquid crystals, and colloids. He has founded five companies (DyNuPol, Iptyx, PolyJoule, C¬2 Sense and Xibus Systems).

Host: Maral Mousavi

Location: Olin Hall of Engineering (OHE) - 100 B

Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Carla Stanard