{"id":89902,"date":"2025-06-25T08:28:53","date_gmt":"2025-06-25T06:28:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/port.lukasiewicz.gov.pl\/?post_type=projects&p=89902"},"modified":"2025-12-19T10:34:36","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T09:34:36","slug":"self-assembly-of-sequence-defined-polymers-toward-materials-mimicking-living-systems-mimicls","status":"publish","type":"projects","link":"https:\/\/port.lukasiewicz.gov.pl\/en\/projekty-badawcze\/self-assembly-of-sequence-defined-polymers-toward-materials-mimicking-living-systems-mimicls\/","title":{"rendered":"Self-Assembly of Sequence-Defined Polymers Toward Materials Mimicking Living Systems – MimicLS"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tProject funded by the National Science Centre (NCN) under the \u201cOpus Lap 21\u201d call\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Project No.: UMO-2021\/43\/I\/ST4\/01294<\/strong>
Project value: PLN 1,890,384.00<\/strong>
Funding amount: PLN 1,890,384.00<\/strong>
Project duration: 02\/01\/2023 \u2013 01\/01\/2027<\/strong>
Project Manager: Dr. R\u00f3\u017ca Szweda<\/strong><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Creating synthetic polymer materials with the sophistication and complexity of living matter<\/strong> has been a long-term goal in materials science. In biological systems, self-assembly<\/strong> benefits from evolutionary optimization of molecular interactions that fine-tune the structure, morphology, and function<\/strong> of biomaterials. Nature uses the primary sequence of macromolecules<\/strong> (such as proteins) to direct folding into specific motifs, which then self-organize into complex, functional structures<\/strong>.<\/p>

In contrast, synthetic polymers<\/strong> still lack the advanced hierarchical organization and functionalities seen in living systems. Therefore, from a materials innovation standpoint, it is essential to design well-defined interactions between building blocks<\/strong> that allow them to assemble into predetermined hierarchical architectures<\/strong> and exhibit diverse functionalities.<\/p>

In recent years, peptide self-assembly<\/strong> has attracted significant attention. Although peptide-based materials with defined sequences have shown promise, their large-scale synthesis<\/strong> and rapid degradation<\/strong> remain major limitations. Sequence-defined abiotic polymers<\/strong> offer a solution to these challenges, adopting similar design strategies to peptides while providing greater stability and tunability<\/strong>. These polymers, defined by their precise primary structure<\/strong>, open new possibilities for next-generation synthetic materials<\/strong> that mimic biological organization. However, little is known<\/strong> about the single-chain folding<\/strong> of non-natural macromolecules or their self-assembly into complex supramolecular structures<\/strong>.<\/p>

This collaborative project combines the expertise of two research teams:<\/p>

  • Functional Macromolecules Team<\/strong>, led by PhD Eng. R\u00f3\u017ca Szweda<\/strong> at \u0141ukasiewicz \u2013 PORT, Poland<\/strong>, specializing in polymer science<\/strong> and self-assembly of sequence-defined polymer bioconjugates<\/strong>;<\/p><\/li>

  • Group of Prof. Takuji Adachi<\/strong> at the Faculty of Sciences, University of Geneva, Switzerland<\/strong>, specializing in optical spectroscopy<\/strong> and the development of in-situ spectroscopic tools<\/strong> to study self-assembly dynamics.<\/p><\/li><\/ul>

    Together, the teams aim to investigate the fundamental self-assembly processes<\/strong> of abiotic, sequence-defined polymers<\/strong>. The goal is to gain a deeper understanding of sequence-regulated hierarchical polymer self-assembly<\/strong>, which is essential for designing synthetic materials with the structural sophistication and complexity of living systems<\/strong>.<\/p>

    The project encompasses three main research objectives<\/strong>:<\/p>

    1. Developing a synthesis method<\/strong> for high-molar-mass, sequence-defined polycarbamates<\/strong> using a mechanochemical approach<\/strong>.<\/p><\/li>

    2. Studying their self-assembly behavior<\/strong> in solution and solid states.<\/p><\/li>

    3. Characterizing the resulting material properties<\/strong>.<\/p><\/li><\/ol>

      The research aims to determine how monomer sequence and stereochemistry<\/strong> influence aggregation into hierarchical structures<\/strong>, and how these structural differences affect rheological and thermal properties<\/strong>. Using in-situ microspectroscopy<\/strong>, the project will provide detailed insight into the mechanisms of polymer self-organization<\/strong>.<\/p>

      Understanding the relationship between molecular sequence and material properties<\/strong> will enable precise tuning of functionalities<\/strong> and serve as a powerful tool for the de novo design of functional, nature-inspired materials<\/strong>.<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/article>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      Project funded by the National Science Centre (NCN) under the \u201cOpus Lap 21\u201d call Project No.: UMO-2021\/43\/I\/ST4\/01294Project value: PLN 1,890,384.00Funding amount: PLN 1,890,384.00Project duration: 02\/01\/2023 \u2013 01\/01\/2027Project Manager: Dr. R\u00f3\u017ca Szweda Creating synthetic polymer materials with the sophistication and complexity of living matter has been a long-term goal in materials science. In biological systems, self-assembly […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":76160,"menu_order":0,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"both","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":301,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[747],"grupy_badawcze":[],"pozostale_projekty":[],"class_list":["post-89902","projects","type-projects","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nsc"],"acf":{"kierownik_projektu":["Dr. R\u00f3\u017ca Szweda"],"dofinansowanie":"Narodowe Centrum Nauki","nazwa_projektu":"","tematyka_projektu":"","opis_projektu":"","dofinanowanie":"National Science Centre"},"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-27 08:40:21","action":"category","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/port.lukasiewicz.gov.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/projects\/89902","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/port.lukasiewicz.gov.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/projects"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/port.lukasiewicz.gov.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/projects"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/port.lukasiewicz.gov.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/projects\/89902\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":96723,"href":"https:\/\/port.lukasiewicz.gov.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/projects\/89902\/revisions\/96723"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/port.lukasiewicz.gov.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/76160"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/port.lukasiewicz.gov.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=89902"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/port.lukasiewicz.gov.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=89902"},{"taxonomy":"grupy_badawcze","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/port.lukasiewicz.gov.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/grupy_badawcze?post=89902"},{"taxonomy":"pozostale_projekty","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/port.lukasiewicz.gov.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pozostale_projekty?post=89902"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}