Javid Rzayev, an Assistant Professor of Chemistry, University at Buffalo, has been chosen by the American Chemical Society's Division of Polymer Chemistry for the prestigious Herman F. Mark Young Scholar Award. The award will be conferred at the 2011 American Chemical Society's fall meeting in Denver.
The award honors work done by Rzayev and his research team on an innovative nanomembrane, which comprises pores of diameter 55nm. The pores are big enough for water to pass through, but not for bacteria. This breakthrough discovery could be applied in water purification applications and was published in the Nano Letters journal in the beginning of this year.
The new nanomembrane was developed by means of a specific type of molecule termed as bottle-brush molecule. It looks like a circular hair brush, with its molecular bristles projecting all-around a molecular column. These molecules have distinct attributes due to their capability to arrange themselves as highly ordered nanomaterials. This research comes under a bigger set of research activities conducted by Rzayev on bottle-brush molecules. It has received grant from a National Science Foundation CAREER award, which is offered for eminent budding researchers.
Rzayev is an expert in designing of polymer materials. Ongoing research studies in his lab are developing polymer constructs, evaluating self-assembly method and supramolecular organization of polymers and investigating the ultimate macroscale characteristics of polymers.
The focus of the research is on adopting tailored polymers to address biomedical and nanotechnology applications such as purification of nanomaterials, sequencing of DNA, drug transport and ultrafiltration.
Other works of Rzayev include development of organic nanotubes for delivery of drugs and the arrangement of bottle-brush polymers in several layers which are capable of reflecting visible light. The research program of the chemist supports UB’s contribution in Integrated Nanostructured Systems, which is one of the eight fields under the UB 2020 long-range plan.
Source: http://www.buffalo.edu