Topic: Metal-Organic Framework Biocomposites
Speaker: Professor Christian Doonan, School of Physics, Chemistry and Earth Sciences, University of Adelaide (U-Adelaide)
Date and time: May 21, 15:00–16:30
Venue: Room 105, #5 Building of SPST
Host: Zhang Yuebiao
Abstract:
The synthesis and application of metal-organic Framework (MOF) biocomposites is a rapidly growing area of research. In the last decade, researchers have shown that a variety of biomacromolecules can be encapsulated in MOFs by surface immobilization, infiltration, and encapsulation. This presentation will focus on encapsulation methods via the spontaneous self-assembly of MOFs around biomacromolecules (e.g. proteins, enzymes, carbohydrates) and assembly of thereof (e.g. yeast cells) and will canvass our recent work on applying metal-free hydrogen-bounded organic frameworks (HOFs) as porous crystalline supports for biomacromolecules.
Biography:
Christian Doonan is a Professor of Chemistry and a South Australian Government Future Industry Making Fellow at the University of Adelaide. He received his PhD at the University of Melbourne and carried out post-doctoral work with Professor Omar Yaghi at the University of California, Los Angeles. His research group focuses on the design and synthesis of Metal-organic Framework materials for application to biotechnology and catalysis. Christian is an elected member of the international MOF commission and his research has been recognized through several awards, including an Australian research Council Future Fellowship and a distinguished lectureship award from the Chemical Society of Japan, and in 2024 he was awarded the South Australian Government Future Industry Making Fellowship. He has published over 150 papers (H-index of 62 and > 21000 citations). In 2024, Christian became Co-Editor-in-Chief of the Royal Society of Chemistry journal CrystEngComm.