We are a part of the Chemistry Department at Université du Québec à Montréal at the heart of the beautiful and lively Montreal. Research in our group focuses on the design and synthesis of new organic and inorganic macromolecules (namely polymers and dendrimers) of varying architectures and functions as well as the fabrication of soft- and metallic nanomaterials for applications in nanomedicine and in optoelectronics. More details on the projects can be found in the Research page.
The multidisciplinary nature of our research provides the students with a unique opportunity to receive extensive hands-on training in organic, inorganic, macromolecule, and nanomaterial synthesis, purification, and characterization as well as to closely collaborate with experts in other fields to investigate the applications of our materials. The group members are trained in handling air- and moisture-sensitive compounds using glovebox and schelenk line techniques. They also receive training to independently acquire and analyze data using methods such as NMR, UV-vis, SEC, DSC, TGA, and DLS as well as more specialized microscopy techniques such as TEM, SEM, AFM, and CLSM.
Group News
March 2023 – The group has been awarded a NSERC+FRQNT NOVA grant to develop inorganic cage-rich polymers and explore their applications in collaboration with Saurabh Chitnis (Dalhousie University) and Audrey Laventure (Université de Montréal). Very exciting!
February 2023 – Congrats to Diep and Nadjib for their papers accepted in Langmuir and Biomacromolecules, respectively. Excellent work!
January 2023 – Good start to the year: Marilyne’s paper on AuNPs with aggregation-induced emission is accepted in Can J Chem! Great work Marilyne! This work is an invited contribution to the special issue in honor of Prof. Cathleen Crudden.
November 2022 – Lucille wins the first place prize for the best oral presentation at the 50th Ontario-Quebec Physical Organic Mini-Symposium (POMS) held for the project that she did jointly with us and Prof. Frenette as a CQMF-funded summer student. Bravo Lucille !
October 2022 – The research that Eya did with us as her Mitacs Globalink project during summer was selected as the best honors project in Tunisia in chemical engineering in 2022. Way to go Eya!, congrats!
April 2022 – Our review with Prof. Bourgault on perylene diimide-conjugated biomolecules, their self-assembly, and applications is accepted by Nanomaterials. Great work Nadjib!
March 2022 – Congrats to Marilyne for winning best oral presentation award in the CQMF/QCAM Annual Meeting. There, Marilyne presented her work on amphiphilic Janus dendrimer that form fluorescent size-tunable dendrimersomes via AIE. Well done!
December 2021 – Christmas has arrived early for us: Our study demonstrating the development of inherently fluorescent and size-tunable dendrimersomes has been accepted by Chem. Commun. Congrats Marilyne, Brandon, and Diep!
December 2021 – Our paper, in collaboration with Prof. Jurca’s group at UCF, reporting the fabrication of highly stable and catalytically active AuNPs using poly(NHC-Au)s has been published in Chem. Mater. Great job Diep, Marilyne, Arunava, and Lori!
August 2021 – Marilyne is awarded the best oral presentation award in her symposium in the CCCE-IUPAC conference. Congrats Marilyne!
March 2021 – Our paper quantifying NHC desorption from the surface of gold nanoparticles is accepted by Dalton Trans. Congrats to Marilyne, Raja, and Iman on their fantastic work!
February 2021 – Marilyne is awarded a Mitacs Globalink Research scholarship to carry out an international internship with Prof. Titel Jurca at the University of Central Florida. Well-deserved Marilyne!
January 2021 – Our paper on spirocyclic polyacetal-based drug delivery vehicles, in collaboration with Prof. Bourgault’s group, is accepted by Nanomaterials. Congrats Brandon, Marilyne, Trang, and Diep!
January 2021 – Arunava joins the group as a postdoctoral fellow (one of the five recipients of Faculty of Science’s postdoctoral fellowship scholarship) . Welcome abord Arunava!
August 2020 – Our group website is finally up!