4TU.HTM Workshop on Polyelectrolytes

4TU.HTM Workshop on Polyelectrolytes - 12 March 2026

Scope
The 4TU.HTM Workshop on Polyelectrolytes aims to bring together researchers from academia and industry to share and discuss recent advances in the synthesis, characterization, and application of polyelectrolytes. Topics include the design of novel charged polymers, polyelectrolyte complexation, responsive materials, bioinspired assemblies, and their roles in energy, environmental, and biomedical technologies. Emphasis will be placed on understanding charge-driven interactions, molecular architecture, and structure–property relationships.

Target audience
The workshop is set to encourage interdisciplinary dialogue between junior and senior polymer chemists, physicists, materials scientists, and engineers, fostering collaborations and innovative approaches to solve global challenges using polyelectrolyte-based materials.

Workshop organizers

Confirmed speakers

Sissi de Beer (UTwente)

Dr. ir. Sissi de Beer is an Associate Professor in the Department of Molecules and Materials, University of Twente

Title: Polyelectrolyte Brushes in Electric Fields: Fundamentals and Applications

Abstract
Polyelectrolytes are intrinsically responsive to electric fields. When these polymers are end-anchored to electrodes to form so-called polyelectrolyte brushes, their responsiveness can be employed to develop advanced sensing or separation technologies. In this presentation, I will discuss the static and dynamic response to electric fields of these brushes in electrolyte solutions. Moreover, I will show how this can be exploited in applications.

Short bio
Sissi de Beer is an Associate Professor in the Department of Molecules and Materials at the University of Twente. Her research focuses on designing functional polymer surfaces using molecular modeling and experiments, with applications in lubrication, sensing, and molecular separations. She leads the national ReCoVR consortium, which develops materials and processes for recovering valuable resources from waste streams. De Beer earned her PhD in Applied Physics at the University of Twente and completed postdoctoral work at Forschungszentrum Jülich and the University of Toronto

Relevant publications

L. A. Smook, A. Dahlin, K. Schroën, and S. de Beer, “ Responsive Polyelectrolyte Brushes in Applications: Functions, Stimuli, and Design Considerations.” Adv. Mater. 37, no. 42 (2025): e09580.
L. A. Smook and S. de Beer, "Electrical Chain Rearrangement: What Happens When Polymers in Brushes Have a Charge Gradient?” Langmuir 40, no 8 (2024): 4142-4151.

Bas van Ravensteijn (UU)

Dr. Bas van Ravensteijn is an Assistant Professor of Pharmaceutics, Utrecht University

Title: Leveraging pathway complexity in polyelectrolyte self-assembly – Routes to more potent gene delivery vehicles (?)

Abstract
Polymerization-induced self-assembly (PISA) has proven to be a versatile route towards high concentrations of micellar nanostructures with tunable chemistries and morphologies. In contrast to conventional self-assembly protocols, where the synthesis and assembly of the block copolymers (BCP) are performed in two separate and consecutive steps, PISA relies on a one-pot procedure where BCP formation and assembly occur simultaneously. Typically, solvophilic polymers are chain-extended with a second, chemically distinct monomer, yielding amphiphilic BCPs. Their amphiphilic character triggers assembly into (higher-order) micellar constructs.

Recently we extended the PISA concept beyond traditional amphiphilic block copolymer systems. BCPs carrying charged segments were synthetized in the presence of oppositely charged cargo macromolecules, e.g., dendrimers or (si)RNA. In these systems, the cargo molecules act as electrostatic templates that guide the polymerization and assembly process. Given that the strength of the electrostatic interactions between the forming BCPs and cargo is tunable by ionic strength and pH, specific time-dependent reaction-assembly pathways could be designed. Preliminary results revealed that, based on a single chemical composition, regulating the assembly pathway dictates the physical-chemical characteristics and morphology of the resulting particles. We envision to leverage this pathway complexity in polyelectrolyte assembly to fundamentally understand how the structure of polymeric gene delivery vehicles impacts their in vitro performance.

Key words
polyplex, nanoparticles, block copolymers, polymerization-induced self-assembly

Short bio
Bas van Ravensteijn is an Assistant Professor of Pharmaceutics, Utrecht University. He obtained his PhD with at the Van 't Hoff Laboratory for Physical & Colloid Chemistry, Utrecht University in 2015. After completing a postdoctoral research project at the University of California – Santa Barbara, he joined Eindhoven University of Technology as a Marie-Skłodowska-Curie research fellow. In 2021, he moved to the Utrecht Institute for Pharmaceutical Sciences (UIPS) where he, with the support of an ERC Starting Grant & Proof-of-Concept Grant, combines fundamental physical & polymer chemistry with pharmaceutical science to rationally design and understand tomorrow's nano-pharmaceutics.

Representative Publications

E. G. Hochreiner, B. G. P. van Ravensteijn*, Polymerization-induced self-assembly for drug delivery: A critical appraisal, J. Polym. Sci., 2023, 61, 3186.
C. Li, J. R. Magana, F. Sobotta, J. Wang, M. A. C. Cohen Stuart, B. G. P. van Ravensteijn*, I. K. Voets*, Switchable electrostatically templated polymerization, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 2022, 61, e202206780.
F. Sobotta, B. G. P. van Ravensteijn*, I. K. Voets*, Sequence-controlled neutral-ionic multiblock-like copolymers through switchable PIESA in a one-pot approach. ACS Macro Lett. 2025, 14, 1277.
L. van den Hoven, S. Goddaer, E. Mirzahossein, T. Vermonden, K. Koynov, K. Remaut, B. G. P. van Ravensteijn*, Unravelling Drug Delivery using Live-Cell Fluorescence Correlation Spectroscopy (FCS). J. Contr. Release 2025, 388, 114311.

Mark Vis (TU/e)

Dr. Mark Vis is an Assistant Professor at the Laboratory of Physical Chemistry, Eindhoven University of Technology

Title: Self-consistent field description of polyelectrolyte-grafted colloidal actuators

Abstract
We present a theoretical description of actuators in prototype artificial muscle tissue by means of a self-consistent (mean field) lattice computational scheme. The actuators are composed of pH-responsive polyelectrolytes grafted at both ends between plate- or rod-like colloidal particles and immersed in an aqueous solution. We build on a model developed for grafted rods*, but specifically include weakly acidic monomers to incorporate the effects of pH variation to trigger the expansion of the material. As a first toy model, we consider strong polyelectrolyte chains: for both plate- and rod-like colloidal particles, we obtain pressure differences of the order of tens of MPa, sufficient to generate volume variation. During actuation, the system expands and contracts by approximately one third of the polymer contour length, and about 100kT of work per polymer chain is performed. Secondly, we show that for weakly charged polyelectrolyte chains, the salt concentration can be used to tune the actuation window by multiple pH units, which is important to obtain a biocompatible range of pH values. In this scenario, we find smaller actuation pressures than for strong polyelectrolytes, but still sufficient expansion and contraction for practical purposes.

* A. Ianiro, J. A. Berrocal, R. Tuinier, M. Mayer and C. Weder, J. Chem. Phys., 2023, 158, 14901

Short bio
Mark Vis studied chemistry at Utrecht University and obtained his PhD in 2015 on the interfacial thermodynamics of coexisting aqueous polymer solutions. He is currently an assistant professor at Eindhoven University of Technology. His main research interests lie in understanding the ultra-soft interfaces of phase-separated complex mixtures and the effects of additional interactions and complexity (e.g., charge, semiflexibility, polydispersity) on the stability of these mixtures.

Possible other speakers

Jasper van der Gucht, WUR
Marleen Kamperman, RUG
Saskia Lindhout, UTwente
Evan Spruijt, RU

More information on the programme will follow soon.

For questions, please contact Reina Boerrigter (r.boerrigter@tudelft.nl)