In 2019, I spent a quarter of the year at Josai University in Japan as a visiting student from MUNI (thanks to the Erasmus+ ICM, see Travelling category in My Blog). Our research group at MUNI thus established a new cooperation with the research group of Prof. Egawa.

For all three months of my stay there, I predominantly worked on novel approaches for the intended purpose of molecular recognition, saccharide sensing and, in connection with that, also controlled drug delivery system which involved ferrocenes and boronic acids. New concept of injectable sol-gel with worm-like micelles (WLMs) has been further developed using electrochemical ferrocene labels. WLMs or rod-like micelles grow in one direction as a rod. From specific concentration, they form a 3D network of entangled micelles, predominantly via intermolecular interactions. Depending on states of micelles, their solutions show different physical properties, i.e. sol or gel appearance.

This exciting topic is closely related to my general interest in responsive smart materials. The saccharide or diol-responsive smart materials are highly desired due to their possible utilization in biomedical research, e.g. for controlling of blood sugar. The collaborative research of Prof. Egawa is focused on the controlling of diol-responsiveness innate for the smart material as-designed. Such smart materials will have intrinsic feedback of their surroundings which may lead to a release of their cargo (e.g. carried insulin). Herein, we would like to explore and widen possible options for studying such responsive systems, e.g. by utilizing the electrochemistry for description of the processes associated with various levels of diols in the system (similarly as various levels of glucose in blood).

If you are interesting in the concept of diol-responsiveness, please, contact me for more information. At least but not last, a similar project involving insulin in the frame of saccharide sensing and control issues can be seen in the Sensor for detection of diabetes tab.