Andrew Lyon Professor Office: 1100K MS&E Phone: 404-894-4090 Fax: 404-894-4066 E-mail Andrew Lyon Research Group Web site

B.A. (with Honors), Rutgers College, 1992; M.S., Northwestern University, 1993; Ph.D., Northwestern University, 1996

Hesburgh Award Teaching Fellow (GT award) - 2006; National Fresenius Award of Phi Lambda Upsilon - 2005; Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award - 2003; Blanchard Fellow - 2003; Sloan Research Fellow - 2002; Beckman Foundation Young Investigator Award - 2000; NSF CAREER Award - 1999; Research Corporation Research Innovation Award - 1999

Research Interests

Dr. Lyon's research interests center around the development and implementation of new environmentally responsive (or "smart") materials for photonic materials, bioanalysis, and biomimetics. The approach the group is taking is to design hydrogel nanoparticles that undergo large changes in their chemical, mechanical, optical or electrical makeup in response to a chemical stumulus, biomolecular interaction, or electromagnetic field; such materials can be viewed as amplifiers or sensitizers of the environmental event. As a result of their environmental sensitivity, nanogels have potential in a number of applications. For example, nanogels have recently been assembled into a new type of soft-sphere photonic crystal that displays advantageous optical and mechanical properties over hard-sphere analogues. Other application targets for responsive hydrogels include biosensors, artificial muscles, drug delivery systems, and chemical separations.

Because of the wide range of synthesis, fabrication and analysis methods used in the group, typical graduate student research projects will often involve many tasks, including polymer synthesis, bioconjugate synthesis, self-assembly or directed-assembly of colloidal materials, and extensive characterization of the resultant material properties. A variety of modern analytical methods are used to characterize and evaluate these materials and interfaces, including photon correlation spectroscopy (dynamic light scattering), fluorescence spectroscopy, quartz crystal microgravimetry, surface plasmon resonance, ellipsometry, optical microscopy, scanning electron and transmission electron microscopies, and electrochemistry.

Specific projects currently underway in the Lyon group include studies of hydrogel nanoparticle bioconjugates, core-shell, hydrogel nanoparticles, processable photonic crystals, polymeric microlenses, thin films for drug delivery, tunable colloidal crystal optical filters, and fast-responding nanostructured polymer films.

Representative Publications

Kim, J.; Singh, N.; Lyon, L. A. "Displacement Induced Switching Rates of Bioresponsive Hydrogel Microlenses" accepted to Chem. Mater., 2007.

Sorrell, C. D.; Lyon, L. A., Bimodal Swelling Responses in Microgel Thin Films. J. Phys. Chem. B 2007, 111, 4060-4066.

Kim, J.; Singh, N.; Lyon, L. A., Influence of Ancillary Binding and Nonspecific Adsorption on Bioresponsive Hydrogel Microlenses. Biomacromolecules 2007, 8, 1157-1161.

Suzuki, D.; McGrath, J. G.; Kawaguchi, H.; Lyon, L. A., Colloidal Crystals of Thermosensitive, Core/Shell Hybrid Microgels. J. Phys. Chem. C 2007, 111, 5667-5672.

McGrath, J. G.; Bock, R. D.; Cathcart, J. M.; Lyon, L. A. "Self-Assembly of "Paint-On" Colloidal Crystals Using Poly(styrene-co-N-isopropylacrylamide) Spheres" Chem. Mater., 2007, 19, 1584-1591.

Debord, J. D.; Lyon, L. A., "On the Unusual Stability of Succinimidyl Esters in pNIPAm-AAc Microgels" Bioconjugate Chem., 2007, 18, 601-604.

Singh, N.; Lyon, L. A. "Au Nanoparticle Templated Synthesis of pNIPAm Nanogels" Chem. Mater., 2007, 19, 719-726.

Wiedemair, J.; Serpe, M. J.; Kim, J.; Masson, J. F.; Lyon, L. A.; Mizaikoff, B.; Kranz, C., In-situ AFM studies of the phase-transition behavior of single thermoresponsive hydrogel particles. Langmuir 2007, 23, (1), 130-137.

Nolan, C. M.; Gelbaum, L. T.; Lyon, L. A., H-1 NMR investigation of thermally triggered insulin release from poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) microgels. Biomacromolecules 2006, 7, (10), 2918-2922.

Gan, D.; Lyon, L. A., "Amphiphilic, Peptide-Modified Core/Shell Microgels" Prog. Colloid Polym. Sci. 2006, 133, 1-8.

Kim, J.; Singh, N.; Lyon, L. A., "Label-Free Biosensing with Hydrogel Microlenses" Angew. Chemie Int. Ed. 2006, 45, 1446-1449.

Nayak, S.; Lyon, L. A., "Soft Nanotechnology from Soft Nanoparticles (Invited Review)" Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2005, 44, 7686-7708.

Nolan, C. M.; Reyes, C. D.; Debord, J. D.; Garcia, A. J.; Lyon, L. A., "Phase transition behavior, protein adsorption, and cell adhesion resistance of poly(ethylene glycol) crosslinked microgel particles" Biomacromolecules 2005, 6, (4), 2032-2039.

Nolan, C. M.; Serpe, M. J.; Lyon, L. A., "Pulsatile Release of Insulin from Layer-by-Layer Assembled Microgel Thin Films" Macromol. Symp. 2005, 227, 285-294.

Kim, J.; Nayak, S.; Lyon, L. A., "Bioresponsive Hydrogel Microlenses" J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2005, 127, (26), 9588-9592.

Kim, J.; Serpe, M. J.; Lyon, L. A., "Photo-Switchable Microlens Arrays", Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. Engl., 2005, 44, 1333-1336.

Nayak, S.; Gan, D.; Serpe, M. J.; Lyon, L. A., "Hollow Thermoresponsive Microgels", Small 2005, 1(4), 416-421.