Abigail Knight
Assistant Professor
Caudill Laboratories 319919-445-1187
aknight@unc.edu
Group Website
Curriculum Vitae
Research Interests
Bioinspired Materials, Chemical Biology, Polymer Chemistry
Research Synopsis
The Knight group focuses on designing novel macromolecular materials with functions inspired by biological systems. These materials will generate platforms of new biomimetic polymeric architectures addressing growing concerns in treating, diagnosing, and preventing human disease.
This research bridges the fields of chemical biology and polymer chemistry using characterization and synthetic tools including polymer and solid-phase synthesis and nanomaterial characterization. Specific project areas include: (1) developing a new class of peptide-polymer amphiphiles inspired by metalloproteins, (2) designing well-defined polymer bioconjugates for biosensing, and (3) evolving functional biomimetic polymers.
Professional Background
B.S., University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2010; Ph.D. with Professor Matthew Francis at University of California at Berkeley, 2015; Arnold O. Beckman Postdoctoral Fellow with Professor Craig Hawker, University of California Santa Barbara, 2015-2018
News & Publications
We synthesized a panel of polymeric catalysts containing a novel triphenylphosphine acrylamide monomer and investigated how their properties impact the rate of a model Suzuki–Miyaura cross-coupling reaction.
Using a model system of poly(ethylene glycol) methacrylate-based thermoresponsive lower critical solution temperature (LCST) copolymers, we explored the impact of composition and stimulus path on nonequilibrium thermal hysteretic behavior.