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A self-crosslinking monomer, α-pinene methacrylate: understanding and exploiting hydrogen abstraction (2022)
Journal Article
Monaghan, O. R., Skowron, S. T., Moore, J. C., Pin-Nó, M., Kortsen, K., Atkinson, R. L., …Howdle, S. M. (2022). A self-crosslinking monomer, α-pinene methacrylate: understanding and exploiting hydrogen abstraction. Polymer Chemistry, 13(39), 5557-5567. https://doi.org/10.1039/d2py00878e

Crosslinking is a valuable route to creating new polymeric materials and normally involves introduction of a cross linker or some form of secondary processing. Here we report the discovery and analysis of a self-crosslinking sustainable terpene deriv... Read More about A self-crosslinking monomer, α-pinene methacrylate: understanding and exploiting hydrogen abstraction.

Antimicrobial ‘inks’ for 3D printing: block copolymer-silver nanoparticle composites synthesised using supercritical CO2 (2022)
Journal Article
Larder, R. R., Krumins, E., Jacob, P. L., Kortsen, K., Cavanagh, R., Jiang, L., …Howdle, S. M. (2022). Antimicrobial ‘inks’ for 3D printing: block copolymer-silver nanoparticle composites synthesised using supercritical CO2. Polymer Chemistry, 13(25), 3768-3779. https://doi.org/10.1039/d2py00398h

Silver nanoparticles (AgNP) are widely exploited for their effective antimicrobial activity against a range of pathogens. Their high efficacy in this regard has seen the global demand for AgNP in consumer products steadily increase in recent years, n... Read More about Antimicrobial ‘inks’ for 3D printing: block copolymer-silver nanoparticle composites synthesised using supercritical CO2.

Synthesis, characterisation and evaluation of hyperbranched N-(2-hydroxypropyl) methacrylamides for transport and delivery in pancreatic cell lines in vitro and in vivo (2022)
Journal Article
Anane-Adjei, A. B., Fletcher, N. L., Cavanagh, R. J., Houston, Z. H., Crawford, T., Pearce, A. K., …Alexander, C. (2022). Synthesis, characterisation and evaluation of hyperbranched N-(2-hydroxypropyl) methacrylamides for transport and delivery in pancreatic cell lines in vitro and in vivo. Biomaterials Science, 10(9), 2328-2344. https://doi.org/10.1039/d1bm01548f

Hyperbranched polymers have many promising features for drug delivery, owing to their ease of synthesis, multiple functional group content, and potential for high drug loading with retention of solubility. Here we prepared hyperbranched N-(2-hydroxyp... Read More about Synthesis, characterisation and evaluation of hyperbranched N-(2-hydroxypropyl) methacrylamides for transport and delivery in pancreatic cell lines in vitro and in vivo.

Exploiting the tuneable density of scCO2 to improve particle size control for dispersion polymerisations in the presence of poly(dimethyl siloxane) stabilisers (2022)
Journal Article
Kortsen, K., Fowler, H. R., Jacob, P. L., Krumins, E., Lentz, J. C., Souhil, M. R., …Howdle, S. M. (2022). Exploiting the tuneable density of scCO2 to improve particle size control for dispersion polymerisations in the presence of poly(dimethyl siloxane) stabilisers. European Polymer Journal, 168, Article 111108. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eurpolymj.2022.111108

The dispersion polymerisation of methyl methacrylate (MMA) is a widely employed method for producing discrete, spherical PMMA particles from traditional solvents, which cover a broad particle size range. With environmental impact becoming an ever mor... Read More about Exploiting the tuneable density of scCO2 to improve particle size control for dispersion polymerisations in the presence of poly(dimethyl siloxane) stabilisers.

Greener extraction-chemical modification-polymerization pipeline of vernolic acid from Ethiopian ironweed plant (2022)
Journal Article
d'Almeida Gameiro, M., Jacob, P. L., Kortsen, K., Ward, T., Taresco, V., Stockman, R. A., …Howdle, S. M. (2022). Greener extraction-chemical modification-polymerization pipeline of vernolic acid from Ethiopian ironweed plant. Journal of Polymer Science, https://doi.org/10.1002/pol.20220050

Epoxidized oils are commonly used in the plastics industry as additives in the formulation of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and as monomers in the coating industry. They are produced from petrochemical feedstocks or by chemical epoxidation of natural oils... Read More about Greener extraction-chemical modification-polymerization pipeline of vernolic acid from Ethiopian ironweed plant.

Correction to “Bespoke 3D-Printed Polydrug Implants Created via Microstructural Control of Oligomers” (2022)
Journal Article
Ruiz-Cantu, L., Trindade, G. F., Taresco, V., Zhou, Z., He, Y., Burroughs, L., …Wildman, R. D. (2022). Correction to “Bespoke 3D-Printed Polydrug Implants Created via Microstructural Control of Oligomers”. ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces, 14(6), 8654. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.2c00035

The chemical structure of the drug trandolapril has been corrected in Figure 4c. The conclusions of the work have not been affected by this correction. (Figure present).

Green enzymatic synthesis and processing of poly (cis-9,10-epoxy-18-hydroxyoctadecanoic acid) in supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO2) (2021)
Journal Article
Sagnelli, D., Vestri, A., Curia, S., Taresco, V., Santagata, G., Johansson, M. K., & Howdle, S. M. (2021). Green enzymatic synthesis and processing of poly (cis-9,10-epoxy-18-hydroxyoctadecanoic acid) in supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO2). European Polymer Journal, 161, Article 110827. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eurpolymj.2021.110827

There is significant potential for industrial use of renewables for a wide range of materials demanded by society. Plants, trees and algae are increasingly attracting attention as sustainable sources for functionalised and polymerizable building bloc... Read More about Green enzymatic synthesis and processing of poly (cis-9,10-epoxy-18-hydroxyoctadecanoic acid) in supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO2).

Generation and Characterization of a Library of Novel Biologically Active Functional Surfactants (Surfmers) Using Combined High-Throughput Methods (2021)
Journal Article
Cuzzucoli Crucitti, V., Contreas, L., Taresco, V., Howard, S. C., Dundas, A. A., Limo, M. J., …Irvine, D. J. (2021). Generation and Characterization of a Library of Novel Biologically Active Functional Surfactants (Surfmers) Using Combined High-Throughput Methods. ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces, 13(36), 43290-43300. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.1c08662

We report the first successful combination of three distinct high-throughput techniques to deliver the accelerated design, synthesis, and property screening of a library of novel, bio-instructive, polymeric, comb-graft surfactants. These three-dimens... Read More about Generation and Characterization of a Library of Novel Biologically Active Functional Surfactants (Surfmers) Using Combined High-Throughput Methods.

Bespoke 3D-Printed Polydrug Implants Created via Microstructural Control of Oligomers (2021)
Journal Article
Ruiz-Cantu, L., Trindade, G. F., Taresco, V., Zhou, Z., He, Y., Burroughs, L., …Wildman, R. D. (2021). Bespoke 3D-Printed Polydrug Implants Created via Microstructural Control of Oligomers. ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces, 13(33), 38969-38978. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.1c07850

Controlling the microstructure of materials by means of phase separation is a versatile tool for optimizing material properties. Phase separation has been exploited to fabricate intricate microstructures in many fields including cell biology, tissue... Read More about Bespoke 3D-Printed Polydrug Implants Created via Microstructural Control of Oligomers.

Silver- and Zinc-Decorated Polyurethane Ionomers with Tunable Hard/Soft Phase Segregation (2021)
Journal Article
Rapone, I., Taresco, V., Lisio, V. D., Piozzi, A., & Francolini, I. (2021). Silver- and Zinc-Decorated Polyurethane Ionomers with Tunable Hard/Soft Phase Segregation. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 22(11), 1-16. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms22116134

Segmented polyurethane ionomers find prominent applications in the biomedical field since they can combine the good mechanical and biostability properties of polyurethanes (PUs) with the strong hydrophilicity features of ionomers. In this work, PU io... Read More about Silver- and Zinc-Decorated Polyurethane Ionomers with Tunable Hard/Soft Phase Segregation.

Poly (glycerol adipate) (PGA) backbone modifications with a library of functional diols: Chemical and physical effects (2021)
Journal Article
Jacob, P. L., Ruiz Cantu, L. A., Pearce, A. K., He, Y., Lentz, J. C., Moore, J. C., …Taresco, V. (2021). Poly (glycerol adipate) (PGA) backbone modifications with a library of functional diols: Chemical and physical effects. Polymer, 228, Article 123912. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polymer.2021.123912

Enzymatically synthesised poly(glycerol adipate) (PGA) has shown a palette of key desirable properties required for a biomaterial to be considered a ‘versatile polymeric tool’ in the field of drug delivery. PGA and its variations can self-assemble in... Read More about Poly (glycerol adipate) (PGA) backbone modifications with a library of functional diols: Chemical and physical effects.

Functionalisable Epoxy-rich Electrospun Fibres Based on Renewable Terpene for Multi-Purpose Applications (2021)
Journal Article
Montanari, U., Cocchi, D., Brugo, T. M., Pollicino, A., Taresco, V., Romero Fernandez, M., …Gualandi, C. (2021). Functionalisable Epoxy-rich Electrospun Fibres Based on Renewable Terpene for Multi-Purpose Applications. Polymers, 13(11), Article 1804. https://doi.org/10.3390/polym13111804

New bio-based polymers capable of either outperforming fossil-based alternatives or possessing new properties and functionalities are of relevant interest in the framework of the circular economy. In this work, a novel bio-based polycarvone acrylate... Read More about Functionalisable Epoxy-rich Electrospun Fibres Based on Renewable Terpene for Multi-Purpose Applications.

RAFT polymerisation of renewable terpene (meth)acrylates and the convergent synthesis of methacrylate-acrylate-methacrylate triblock copolymers (2021)
Journal Article
Atkinson, R. L., Monaghan, O., Elsmore, M. T., Topham, P. D., Toolan, D. T. W., Derry, M. J., …Howdle, S. M. (2021). RAFT polymerisation of renewable terpene (meth)acrylates and the convergent synthesis of methacrylate-acrylate-methacrylate triblock copolymers. Polymer Chemistry, 12(21), 3177-3189. https://doi.org/10.1039/d1py00326g

Terpenes are ideal candidates for sustainable polymer feedstocks, due to their natural abundance and availability from existing waste streams. Previously, we have shown that a range of terpene(meth)acrylate monomers can be synthesised from the most c... Read More about RAFT polymerisation of renewable terpene (meth)acrylates and the convergent synthesis of methacrylate-acrylate-methacrylate triblock copolymers.

Synthesis of water-soluble surfactants using catalysed condensation polymerisation in green reaction media (2021)
Journal Article
Goddard, A. R., Apebende, E. A., Lentz, J. C., Carmichael, K., Taresco, V., Irvine, D. J., & Howdle, S. M. (2021). Synthesis of water-soluble surfactants using catalysed condensation polymerisation in green reaction media. Polymer Chemistry, https://doi.org/10.1039/d1py00415h

Sustainable and biobased surfactants are required for a wide range of everyday applications. Key drivers are cost, activity and efficiency of production. Polycondensation is an excellent route to build surfactant chains from bio-sourced monomers, but... Read More about Synthesis of water-soluble surfactants using catalysed condensation polymerisation in green reaction media.

Porous hollow TiO2 microparticles for photocatalysis: exploiting novel ABC triblock terpolymer templates synthesised in supercritical CO2 (2021)
Journal Article
Larder, R. R., Bennett, T. M., Blankenship, L. S., Alves Fernandes, J., Husband, B. K., Atkinson, R. L., …Howdle, S. M. (2021). Porous hollow TiO2 microparticles for photocatalysis: exploiting novel ABC triblock terpolymer templates synthesised in supercritical CO2. Polymer Chemistry, 12(19), 2904-2913. https://doi.org/10.1039/d1py00334h

Reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) mediated dispersion polymerisation in supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO2) is an efficient and green method for synthesising block copolymer microparticles with internal nanostructures. Here we... Read More about Porous hollow TiO2 microparticles for photocatalysis: exploiting novel ABC triblock terpolymer templates synthesised in supercritical CO2.

Polymer pro-drug nanoparticles for sustained release of cytotoxic drugs evaluated in patient-derived glioblastoma cell lines and in situ gelling formulations (2021)
Journal Article
Vasey, C. E., Cavanagh, R. J., Taresco, V., Moloney, C., Smith, S., Rahman, R., & Alexander, C. (2021). Polymer pro-drug nanoparticles for sustained release of cytotoxic drugs evaluated in patient-derived glioblastoma cell lines and in situ gelling formulations. Pharmaceutics, 13(2), https://doi.org/10.3390/pharmaceutics13020208

Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most common, malignant and aggressive brain tumour in adults. Despite the use of multimodal treatments, involving surgery, followed by concomitant radiotherapy and chemotherapy, the median survival for patients remains less... Read More about Polymer pro-drug nanoparticles for sustained release of cytotoxic drugs evaluated in patient-derived glioblastoma cell lines and in situ gelling formulations.

The HelQ human DNA repair helicase utilizes a PWI-like domain for DNA loading through interaction with RPA, triggering DNA unwinding by the HelQ helicase core (2021)
Journal Article
Jenkins, T., Northall, S. J., Ptchelkine, D., Lever, R., Cubbon, A., Betts, H., …Bolt, E. L. (2021). The HelQ human DNA repair helicase utilizes a PWI-like domain for DNA loading through interaction with RPA, triggering DNA unwinding by the HelQ helicase core. NAR Cancer, 3(1), Article zcaa043. https://doi.org/10.1093/narcan/zcaa043

Genome instability is a characteristic enabling factor for carcinogenesis. HelQ helicase is a component of human DNA maintenance systems that prevent or reverse genome instability arising during DNA replication. Here, we provide details of the molecu... Read More about The HelQ human DNA repair helicase utilizes a PWI-like domain for DNA loading through interaction with RPA, triggering DNA unwinding by the HelQ helicase core.

Influence of structure and solubility of chain transfer agents on the RAFT control of dispersion polymerisation in scCO2 (2020)
Journal Article
Alves Costa Pacheco, A., Fernandes Da Silva Filho, A., Kortsen, K., Hanson-Heine, M., Taresco, V., Hirst, J. D., …Howdle, S. M. (2021). Influence of structure and solubility of chain transfer agents on the RAFT control of dispersion polymerisation in scCO2. Chemical Science, 12(3), 1016-1030. https://doi.org/10.1039/d0sc05281g

Reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) dispersion polymerisation of methyl methacrylate (MMA) is performed in supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO2) with 2-(dodecylthiocarbonothioylthio)-2-methylpropionic acid (DDMAT) present as chain... Read More about Influence of structure and solubility of chain transfer agents on the RAFT control of dispersion polymerisation in scCO2.

Synthesis and Antibacterial Evaluation of New Pyrazolo[3,4-d]pyrimidines Kinase Inhibitors (2020)
Journal Article
Greco, C., Catania, R., Balacco, D. L., Taresco, V., Musumeci, F., Alexander, C., …Schenone, S. (2020). Synthesis and Antibacterial Evaluation of New Pyrazolo[3,4-d]pyrimidines Kinase Inhibitors. Molecules, 25(22), Article 5354. https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules25225354

Pyrazolo[3,4-d]pyrimidines represent an important class of heterocyclic compounds well-known for their anticancer activity exerted by the inhibition of eukaryotic protein kinases. Recently, pyrazolo[3,4-d]pyrimidines have become increasingly attracti... Read More about Synthesis and Antibacterial Evaluation of New Pyrazolo[3,4-d]pyrimidines Kinase Inhibitors.

Polymerisation-induced self-assembly (PISA) as a straightforward formulation strategy for stimuli-responsive drug delivery systems and biomaterials: recent advances (2020)
Journal Article
Phan, H., Taresco, V., Penelle, J., & Couturaud, B. (2021). Polymerisation-induced self-assembly (PISA) as a straightforward formulation strategy for stimuli-responsive drug delivery systems and biomaterials: recent advances. Biomaterials Science, 9(1), 38-50. https://doi.org/10.1039/d0bm01406k

Stimuli-responsive amphiphilic block copolymers have emerged as promising nanocarriers for enhancing site-specific and on-demand drug release in response to a range of stimuli such as pH, the presence of redox agents, and temperature. The formulation... Read More about Polymerisation-induced self-assembly (PISA) as a straightforward formulation strategy for stimuli-responsive drug delivery systems and biomaterials: recent advances.