Dr. Quinn A. Besford

Group leader Functional Polymer Architectures
at the Leibniz-Institut für Polymerforschung Dresden e.V.

Hohe Strasse 6
01069 Dresden

Phone: +49 (0)351 4658-365
Fax: +49 (0)351 4658-281
Email: besford@ipfdd.de

To understand how colloidal forces at polymer interfaces modulate processes from particle assembly to cell differentiation, with a vision to exploit this goal towards developing new functional materials for sensing and theranostics.

The scope of our work is devoted to two key areas that includes theranostics and surface-based sensing technologies. Our work on theranostics involves the synthesis and functionalisation of specific nanoparticle architectures for achieving desirable bio-nano interactions in vivo. The goal in this pursuit is to overcome the biologically-imposed barriers against nanomedicine, towards achieving successful treatment/diagnosis of disease. Our work on surface-based sensing involves high-precision synthesis of ultrathin polymer brush architectures that have integrated fluorophores throughout the structures. These new surfaces take the concept of "touch"-based sensing towards the nanoscale, where changes in polymer brush conformation can be spatially-resolved towards optical resolution.

• Mechanofluorescence Polymer Brush Surfaces for Investigating Microscopic Contact Forces at Aqueous Interfaces (DFG)
• Understanding the Biomolecular Corona at the Nano-Bio Interface (Coorperation with Prof. Carsten Werner)
• Hybrid Glycogen-Herparin Nanomaterials as Biocompatible and Biodegradable Materials (Coorperation with Prof. Carsten Werner, Dr. Uwe Freundenberg, Dr. Manfred Maitz)

• Besford, Q.A., et al., Mechanofluorescent Polymer Brush Surfaces that Spatially Resolve Surface Solvation, ACS Nano, 2022, 16, 3383-3393.
  https://doi.org/10.1021/acsnano.2c00277
• Besford, Q.A., et al., FRET-Integrated Polymer Brushes for Spatially-Resolved Sensing of Changes in Polymer Conformation, Angewandte Chemie, 2021, 133, 2-9.
  https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.202104204
• Besford, Q.A., et al., The Protein Component of Oyster Glycogen Nanoparticles: An Anchor Point for Functionalization, ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces, 2020, 12, 38976-38988.
  https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.0c10699
• Besford, Q.A., et al., Glycogen as a Building Block for Advanced Biological Materials, Advanced Materials, 2020, 1904625.
• Besford, Q.A., et al., Self-Assembled Metal-Phenolic Networks on Emulsions as Low-Fouling and pH-Responsive Particles, Small, 2018, 39, 180234.
  https://doi.org/10.1002/smll.201802342