Project:                                 PN-III-P2-2.1
Acronym:                              3D SMARTMAGTISS
Responsible partner (ICMPP): Dr. Aurica P. Chiriac
                                     

Project: PN-III-P1-1.1-TE-2021-1683
Acronym: AntoSensECOPACK
Project Leader: Dr. Irina-Elena RĂSCHIP
Duration: 2022 – 2024

Biopolymers meet environmental concerns, but they have some limitations in terms of performance, such as thermal, moisture barrier and mechanical properties. This type of packaging materials needs more added values such as the introduction of smart molecules capable of providing information about the properties of food in packaging. Among the well-known biopolymers, xanthan appears to be promising compound for the preparation of bioactive films being recognized as non-toxic and can be consumed. Anthocyanins present antioxidant activity being able to respond to pH changes having potential applications as natural sensors in monitoring food quality and deterioration. In this context, the main goal of this project is the enrichment of cross-linked xanthan based eco-packaging with anthocyanins to monitor the food quality through color variation due to pH change. Cross-linking of the xanthan, beside anthocyanin incorporation, and reinforcement by cryogelation successful defeat drawbacks like: mechanical weakness and moisture resistance. These processes increase as well the stability of the material and, more important, the structural stability of anthocyanins with their corresponding colors. So, the materials based xanthan with anthocyanins incorporated having properties like antimicrobials, oxygen scavengers, or pH sensitivity represent a novelty and could have promising applications of smart and active packaging.

https://iecoj2.wixsite.com/my-site 

Project: PN-III-P1-1.2-PCCDI-2017-0083
Acronym: TERADOT
Director partner PPIMC: Dr. Mariana PINTEALA
Duration: 2018 – 2020

The TERADOT consortium will implement this project with the aim of reaching its strategic objective: the consolidation of the consortium scientific and technical competencies (in particular those of the P3 partner with relaunch potential) in the field of econanotechnologies and advanced materials by supporting/ developing the existing research competences and the transferability of its research results. The TERADOT Consortium is an alliance that will devote its efforts to capitalize the potential of nanotechnologies by creating new teranostic platforms based on Carbon Dots (CDs) in order to radically change the proceedings to diagnose and treat cancer.

http://www.ch.tuiasi.ro/cercetare/proiecte/TERADOT/

Project: PN-III-P1-1.1-TE-2021-1068

Project manager: Loredana VACAREANU

Contract Authority: UEFISCDI

Contractor: "Petru Poni" Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry 

Period: 2022-2024

Conjugated microporous polymers (CMPs) are attractive materials for the detection of chemicals because of their remarkable π-conjugation, large specific surface areas, photoluminescence and electroconductive properties. Despite the advances made in this area, some major drawbacks are still highly amenable to improvement: poor solubility of the chemically synthesized polymers, prediction of porosity from the structural architecture of the tecton-like building blocks and electrochemical detection of the analytes. Electrooxidative polymerization and emulsion polymerization can solve the major problem of processability related to CMPs due to the direct generation of the polymeric architecture (either in form of film or microparticles) as well as other aspects related to the uniformity, porosity and fine adjustments of the structural properties of the formed networks. Moreover, these techniques may conduct to microporous architectures with a high active surface area, avoiding the processability issues being directly formed and easily dispersible in the environment media.

https://icmpp.ro/projects/l7/about.php?id=59

Project: PN-III-P1-1.1-TE-2016-1180
Acronym: DynaCoPlat
Project coordinator: Dr. Lilia CLIMA
Duration: 2018 – 2020

The next level in Drug Discovery is the easy building and self-generation of multifunctional nanostructures from commercially available or “easy to prepare” units, which will further self-assemble in a complex, tunable and multifunctional materials, suitable for very specific targeted drug delivery. In this regard, DynaCoPlat project’s main objective is to create dynamic nanoplatforms for developing dynamic systems for enhanced multivalent biorecognition with applications in targeted drug delivery. Project’s subject “the development of efficient nucleic acid targeted delivery systems” addresses the thematic priorities of the National Development Plan 2014-2020 programs (PN III) and Horizon 2020 strategy. The project will adopt modern synthetic pathways for preparing dynamic nanoplatforms with self-assembly properties based on dynamic chemistry and combinatorial methodology. The simplicity of the synthetic constitutional strategy using accessible and simple building blocks for facile self-generated nanoplatforms, presenting synergistic DNA and cell membrane affinities, can be considered as a valuable path toward the systematic discovery of active delivery systems. An important issue we aim to address is establishing a methodology for labelling of nanoplatforms with targeting molecules and achieve successful targeting property via introduction of selective cellular markers, thus increasing the efficacy and reducing the overall toxicity of therapeutic agents. On the other side, the STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE of DynaCoPlat project is the formation and consolidation of a young multidisciplinary team of researchers with complementary knowledge and experience, able to increase their scientific visibility and integration into scientific environment by publishing the results in high impact journals and application to competitions within the national and European Framework (H2020, Era-Net, Euronanomed, etc.).

http://www.intelcentru.ro/DynaCoPlat/home

Project: PN-III-P4-PCE-2021-0306

Project manager: Dr. Andrei HONCIUC

Contract Authority: UEFISCDI

Contractor: "Petru Poni" Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry 

Period: 2022-2024

In this proposal we aim at expanding the application potential of Pickering Emulsion Polymerization Technology (PEmPTech) to produce advanced ion-imprinted polymer (IIP) architectures ranging from colloidosomes, microparticles, monoliths, films for metal ion extraction and recovery from wastewaters and hydro mining. The key elements differentiating PEmPtech from all other ion-imprinting technologies is the use of Pickering emulsions which are stabilized by amphiphilic Janus nanoparticles (JNPs). JNPs with tunable amphiphilic balance can emulsify virtually any liquid monomers, monomer mixtures and ligands to produce ultrastable emulsions suitable for subsequent polymerization. However, pseudoamphiphilic homogeneous nanoparticles can also be used to stabilize Pickering emulsions. Which means that the current project is not restructed to ony JNPs. While the existing synthesis emulsification, precipitation and suspension polymerization technologies to produce IIPs are limited to trial-and-error process of identification of a particular set of monomer and ligand monomers that work in suitable synthetic conditions, we intend to demonstrate at the proof-of-concept level that PEmPTech utilizing amphiphilic JNPs can become a universal platform for facile production of various IIP architectures. The IIPs will be tested in laboratory conditions for metal ion absorption and extraction efficiency and selectivity from simple and complex ion matrices.

https://icmpp.ro/projects/l7/about.php?id=55

Project: PN-III-P4-PCE-2021-1728

Project manager: Dr. Mariana-Dana DAMACEANU

Contract Authority: UEFISCDI

Contractor: "Petru Poni" Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry 

Period: 2022-2024

The need to explore safe and sustainable energy sources is an imperative concern of the world today. Majority of renewable energy sources depend on the daytime and climate circumstances, therefore one challenge is undeniably the storage of energy. To meet this issue, a cross-disciplinary approach will be applied, from materials synthesis and physico-chemical investigation to engineering low-cost energy devices. More specific, EnStoreSW aims at developing thiophene-based polymers for use as both capacitive and electrochromic materials in flexible energy storage smart windows (ESSWs). At the proposal stage, the chemical structures of monomers and polymers have been designed. During project implementation, experiments will be carried out to synthesize and characterize them. The polymers will be used to develop new electrode materials with electrochromic and capacitive functions, by various wet methods, with focus on flexible electrodes. First, these will be tested in three-electrode cell configuration to screen the material performance, and thereafter validated in device configuration. Exploration and optimization of electrode materials, electrolytes and device structures are the key objectives that meet the ambition of EnStoreSW towards high performance ESSWs.

https://icmpp.ro/projects/l7/about.php?id=57

Project: PN-III-P1-1.1-TE-2021-1110

Project manager: Dr. Irina BUTNARU

Contract Authority: UEFISCDI

Contractor: "Petru Poni" Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry 

Period: 2022-2024

High-k-coPI project aims to deliver solutions towards the reduction of energy consumption by developing new advanced materials engineering with target on film capacitors for energy storage devices. Thus, the project may influence the progress of dielectric materials with high permittivity (k). Polymers are more applicable than inorganic ceramics in higher electric fields, being essential in designing and fabricating the next generation of efficient electronics. The main idea of this project is to find the optimum combination of copolyimide (coPI) properties given by the careful choice of various structural aromatic and aliphatic chain architectures. The originality brought by the present project consists in the use of flexible coPI films with high thermal stability, k and energy storage densities as viable and less costly alternative to the inorganic components. To fulfil the project objectives the work will consist in coPI component design and characterization,  physico-chemical investigations with emphasis on morphology, crystallinity, mechanical, thermal and electrical properties as well as energy storage density, and optimization of the coPIs synthesis from the structure-property feedbacks. 

https://icmpp.ro/projects/l7/about.php?id=60

Project: PN-III-P2-2.1-PED-2021-1666

Project manager: Dr. Mariana-Dana DAMACEANU

Contract Authority: UEFISCDI

Contractor: "Petru Poni" Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry 

Period: 2022-2024

CO2 capture and storage (CCS) was claimed as an essential R&D priority to accomplish the Europe 2050 climate objectives by using cost-effective strategies. The CO2 capture procesess is still too expensive due to low CO2 concentrations in the flue gas, making the amount of energy needed for capture to be process costly. Addressing the CCS Directive of the EU policy, memPIM-PIs aims at developing polymer membranes for sustainable CO2 capture. To this goal, the synergistic effect between the PIM concept applied to polyimides and the facile blending method will be exploited as strategy to engineer novel CO2 capture membranes. Thus, the chain flexibility and segmental mobility will be controlled by incorporating bulky groups and flexible linkages. Blending a fluorinated polyimide with a polyimide containing a bulky group will guide to a library of membranes resistant to ageing and plasticization. Our key strategy relies on the incorporation into polyimides of tertiary amine atoms as receptors for CO2 through 1,3,5-triazine or triphenylamine that will induce adsorbate-adsorbent interactions favorable for CO2 capture. The obtained membranes will be physico-chemically investigated and subjected to gas permeation tests. Their performance will be evaluated by plotting the CO2 permeability and selectivity in Robeson diagrams.

https://icmpp.ro/projects/l7/about.php?id=58

Project: Research agreement no. 5289/09.08.2019 – CORTHOTEC LIMITED, London, UK
Acronym: CORTHOTEC
Project coordinator: Dr. Mariana PINTEALA
Duration: 2019 – 2020

Project: POC F; 142/10.10.2016
Acronym: InoMatPol
Project coordinator: Dr. Narcisa Laura MARANGOCI
Duration: 2016 - 2019

Obiectivul general al proiectului InoMatPol consta in cresterea capacitatii, calitatii si eficientei activitatii CDI din ICMPP prin deschiderea de noi directii de cercetare si diversificarea gamei de servicii de cercetare orientate in special catre industrie – conform cerintelor de inovare ale agentilor economici din cadrul structurilor de tip cluster, in scopul stimularii competitivitatii cercetarii stintifice romanesti la nivel european si a competitivitatii economice nationale/regionale ale Institutului si ale actorilor economici in domeniul de specializare inteligenta eco-nano-tehnologii si materiale avansate.

http://http://inomatpol.icmpp.ro/

Project: PN-III-P1-1.2-PCCDI-2017-0697
Acronym: INTERA
Project Component 4 (PC4) coordinator: Dr. Mariana PINTEALA
PC4: Polymeric conjugates for efficient induction of expression of genes of interest with applicability in cell therapy
Duration: 2018 – 2020

The complex project INTERA aims to develop innovative therapeutic methods to ameliorate the pathological progression by reducing the inflammatory process. The multidisciplinary studies proposed by INTERA can create and define new nano- or micro-medical devices usable for smart and innovative anti-inflammatory therapies. INTERA includes 4 projects: (1) Encapsulation of genetically manipulated eukaryotic cells for controlled release of pharmacologically active products; (2) Development of a 3D platform designed for pre-clinical drug testing composed of cells incorporated into three-dimensional bio-matrices; (3) Intelligent nanobioparticles designed for specific targeting  of bioactive compounds to pathological sites to reduce (treat) vascular inflammation. (4) Polymeric conjugates to induce efficiently  the expression of genes of interest with applicability in cellular therapy.

http://www.icbp.ro/static/en/en-networking_grants-grants-national_grants/intera.html

Project:                                PN-III P1-1.2-PCCDI-2017-0697
Acronym:                              INTERA
Responsible partner (ICMPP): Dr. Gheorghe Fundueanu
Duration:                              2018-2020
Buget:                                  1,380,000 lei

    The INTERA complex project aims to develop innovative therapeutic methods that, by reducing the inflammatory process, will improve the pathological processes. INTERA includes multidisciplinary studies that only together can create and define new medical nano- or micro-devices that can be used for intelligent and innovative anti-inflammatory therapies. INTERA includes 4 projects: (1) Encapsulation of genetically manipulated eukaryotic cells for the controlled release of some pharmacologically active products (2) Creating a 3D platform designed for pre-clinical drug testing consisting of cells incorporated into three-dimensional bio-matrices; (3) Intelligent nanobioparticles designed for vectoring bioactive compounds to pathological sites for the therapy of vascular inflammation (4) Polymer conjugates for the efficient induction of expression of genes of interest with applicability in cell therapy. The consortium consists of 4 partner research units - two institutes of the Romanian Academy (IBPCNS, ICMPP), a university (UPB) and a national CD institute (INCDFM) with good territorial coverage (Bucharest-Ilfov-Iași).

http://www.icbp.ro/static/en/en-networking_grants-grants-national_grants/intera.html

Project: PN-III-P1-1.1-TE-2021-0771
Acronym: MIRCoSorb
Project Leader: Dr. Claudiu-Augustin GHIORGHITA
Duration: 2022 – 2024

Sorption processes are widely investigated for wastewater purification because of advantages like simple handling, high efficiency and economic viability. Because sorbents have a finite number of interaction sites, the current approach of increasing their economic value consists in the desorption of retained pollutants, followed by regeneration for subsequent reuse. However, this results in the accumulation of concentrated wastes and damaged sorbents, whose disposal/neutralization creates additional environmental and economic problems. Consequently, the current project proposes to circumvent these disadvantages by identifying new strategies to valorize spent sorbents in subsequent water purification applications. In this purpose, new hydrogels with a controlled content of electron-rich atoms (N, S and O) will be prepared using chitosan, polyethyleneimine and thiourea. The obtained hydrogels will be loaded with Cu(II) and Ag(I) ions, that subsequently will be chemically reduced to metal nanoparticles, thus preparing new organic/inorganic composites. The synergism between the properties of both phases will then be explored by testing the composites in the sorption of heavy metal ions/organic dyes and the catalytic degradation of organic pollutants (such as nitrophenols) from wastewaters.

https://claudiughiorghita.wixsite.com/mircosorb 

Project:            PN-III-P1-1.1-PD-2019-0271
Acronym:         GlyPepTum
Project Leader: Dr. Alina G. Rusu

Project: PN-III-P4-ID-PCCF-2016-0050
Acronym: 5D-nanoP
Project coordinator: Prof. Aatto LAAKSONEN
Duration: 2018 – 2022

 Mimicking of the living matter mechanism of cooperation by complementarity represents one of the most challenging tasks of supramolecular chemistry. The momentary solution consists in using particularly designed molecular unimers, endowed with the necessary amount of chemical information.

The 5D-nanoP project is dedicated to interfacing the fundamental research area of constitutional dynamic chemistry with the practical approaches of medicinal chemistry and biomedical applications. In the spirit of a metaphor of Jean-Marie Lehn (Nobel Prize in Chemistry, 1987), the project aims to materialize the concept of 5D chemistry in designing, synthesizing, characterizing, and using molecules with conditional affinity, to build versatile supramolecular nanoplatforms able to vectorize compounds of pharmaceutical or biochemical relevance, all of them involved in physiologic and pathologic processes at cell- and tissue-level.

http://www.intelcentru.ro/5D-nanoP/

Project:                                     PN-III-P4-ID PCCF-2016-0050
Acronym:                                   5D-nanoP
Responsible partner (ICMPP-P3): Dr. Gheorghe Fundueanu
Duration:                                   2018-2022
Buget:                                       945,000 lei

    The 5D-nanoP project aims to interface the fundamental scientific field of constitutional dynamic chemistry with the practical approaches of medical chemistry and biomedical applications. In the spirit of the metaphor launched by Jean-Marie Lehn (Nobel Prize for Chemistry, 1987), the project proposes to materialize the concept of 5D chemistry by designing, synthesizing, characterizing and using molecules with conditioned affinity, for the development of supramolecular nanoplatforms, useful as pharmacological and genetic vectors implicated in physiological or pathological processes at the cellular and tissue level.

http://www.intelcentru.ro/5D-nanoP/ro/

Project:             PN-III-P2-2.1-PED2019-2743
Acronym:                              
Project Leader: Dr. Loredana E. Nita

Project: POC E; P_37_707/31.08.2016
Acronym: POCPOLIG
Project coordinator: Dr. Vasile LOZAN / Project manager: Dr. Narcisa Laura MARANGOCI
Duration: 2016 - 2020

The objective of the project is to increase the capacity and quality of the research and innovation development activity by attracting specialists with advanced skills, opening a new research direction in the field of metal-organic networks (MOF) and diversifying the range of research services and transferring them to industrial partners, in order to stimulate the competitiveness of the Romanian scientific research at European level and of the national/regional economic competitiveness of the Institute and of the economic actors in the field of intelligent specialization of eco-nano-technologies and advanced materials.

http://pocpolig.icmpp.ro/

Project: PN-III-P1-1.1-TE-2021-1332

Project manager: Dr. Mihai ASANDULESA

Contract Authority: UEFISCDI

Contractor: "Petru Poni" Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry 

Period: 2022-2024

The research aim of this project is the synthesis, characterization and study of performances of novel nanocomposites containing multifunctional Janus nanoparticles (JNPs) as filler. The scientific merit is the use of amphiphilic snowman-type and semiconducting Janus nanoparticles for development of facile solvent-free synthesis of nanocomposites, homogeneity of the filler distribution in the nanocomposites and enhanced electrical conductivity of the final product with respect to that of the constituting polymer components. The first key target of the current proposal is the synthesis of snowman-type JNPs comprising one semiconducting and hydrophobic lobe and one electrically insulating and hydrophilic lobe. The second key target is related to fabrication of semiconducting nanocomposites, ensuring a homogeneous dispersion of the multifunctional JNPs in the polymer matrix. The third key target is evaluation of nanocomposites performances. As follows, the polymer nanocomposites varying in the JNPs loading will be investigated by means of differential scanning calorimetry and dielectric relaxation spectroscopy. We will attempt to correlate the experimental data in order to shed light on molecular motions, interactions between JNPs and polymer matrix, and on transport processes in semiconducting nanocomposites. What is more, we will evaluate the resistivity of designed polymer nanocomposites in a printed electronic element on a solid support.

https://icmpp.ro/projects/l7/about.php?id=62

Project: PN-III-P4-PCE-2021-0906

Project manager: Dr. Aurica FARCAS

Contract Authority: UEFISCDI

Contractor: "Petru Poni" Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry 

Period: 2022-2024

The interest in the area of semiconducting polymers (SMPs) for organic electronics has intensified during the past few decades as a consequence of their numerous advantages over conventional inorganic materials. Being in direct competition with inorganic thin-film and crystalline silicon photovoltaic (PV), there are still many points for improving SMPs`s charge carrier mobility that is the main difference between these organic and inorganic materials. This is why there is a lot of research interest for improving the electronic properties of SMPs. Recently, so-called supramolecular SMPs have been recognized as promising materials that attracted much attention for optoelectronics. These supramolecular compounds exhibit a crucial importance for further development of organic electronics and represent a key bottom-up strategy to build and process relatively soft functional materials. The design and synthesis of such supramolecular SMPs of polypseudorotaxanes (PPs) or polyrotaxanes (PRs) types open the gates to unprecedented opportunities in many fields of science and technology. On the basis of our previously studies, it was found that the supramolecular encapsulation of SMPs backbones is effective in preventing aggregation and hindering fluorescence quenching, even when only a small fraction of the conjugated backbone is encapsulated. Therefore, our proposal is aiming to investigate a series of new and original supramolecular SMPs and to select the most promising materials directly for construction of innovative devices or new classes of biomimetic ionic channels that will be safe for human and environment. These newly proposed supramolecular architectures will be contributing forces and no doubt will lead to interesting results. In addition, the accomplishment of the scientific objectives themselves will give the team members an excellent training in a multidisciplinary field at the intersection of organic synthesis, supramolecular and polymer chemistry as well material science for the generation of active layer for organic electronic devices.

https://icmpp.ro/projects/l7/about.php?id=50