Dr. Javier González Benito, Professor Titular, Dept. Materials Science and Engineering, IQMAAB, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, Madrid, Spain

Biography: Professor González-Benito received his degree in chemistry (speciality in Chemical Physics) in 1992 the University Complutense of Madrid (Spain). He received his master degree also in Chemical Physics in 1992 from the University Complutense of Madrid. In 1999 he received his Ph.D. in Chemical Physics from the University Complutense of Madrid although the research work was performed in the Engineering Department of the University Carlos III of Madrid in where he got a position in 1993 as an assistant professor. In 1998 and in 1999 he joined the Professor Maçanita's group in the Institute of Chemistry and Biology Technology of University Nova de Lisbon (Portugal) as a researching fellow. In 2000 he joined the Professor Lemmetyinen's group in Institute of Materials Chemistry of the Tampere University of Technology (Finland) as a researching fellow. In 2001 he joined the Professor Mondragon's group in the Department of Chemistry Engineering at the Technical Engineering School of the Vasc Country University (Spain) as a researching fellow. He was post-doctoral fellow along the course 2001-02 at the Macromolecular Science Department of Case Western Reserve University (Cleveland, Ohio). In 2002 he joined the Professor F. Piérola's group in the Department of Sciences and Techniques of Physics-chemistry of the National University of Distance Education of Spain as a researching fellow. In 2003 he got the permanent position as a professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering and Chemistry Engineering of the University Carlos III of Madrid. In 2005 he joined for three months the Professor Kramer's group in the Materials Department of the University of California Santa Barbara as a researching fellow. Professor González-Benito current research activities focus on polymer interfaces in multiphase (micro and nanophases) materials using a variety of microscopic imaging methods and fluorescence based methods. He tries to understand how the interfaces/interphases affect the final properties of polymer composite materials and, if it is possible, to generate tailor made interphases to obtain particular properties. Since 2006 Professor González-Benito is the Director of the post-graduate program in Materials Science and Engineering (Master and Ph.D.) of the University Carlos III of Madrid.

Speech Title: Surface Properties of Solution Blow Spun PSF/TiO2 Nanocomposites and their Relation with E. coli Adhesion
Abstract: Thermoplastic nanocomposites with potential antibacterial properties were prepared. Solution blow spinning, SBS, was revealed as an easy method to prepare fiber-like films (mats) of nanocomposites based on polisulfone, PSF, filled with well dispersed TiO2 nanoparticles. Different compositions of PSF/TiO2 nanocomposites were considered: 0%, 1%, 2%, 5%, and 10% by weight of TiO2. In order to understand the influence of TiO2 nanoparticles content and the related surface properties on the adhesion of DH5-alpha E. coli cells to the surface of the materials, a deep characterization was carried out taking into account the morphology at nanoscale, roughness, contact angles and surface free energy. Cell adhesion was studied by simple inspection by scanning electron microscopy, SEM. A uniform dispersion of the nanofiller was attained by embedding them in the polymer when fibers were created during the SBS process. TiO2 content influenced the topography of the films probably due to a direct effect on the solvent evaporation rate. All the results obtained pointed out that an increase of surface hydrophobicity due to increase of roughness induced by the presence of TiO2 nanoparticles in the blow spun suspensions are the main contribution to the reduction of DH5- E. coli cells adhesion.
Keywords: Polysulfone; TiO2; blow spinning; nanocomposites; cell adhesion