Abstract. --- In designing polymeric materials for use in nanotechnology it rapidly becomes apparent that control over all aspects of polymer structure (molecular weight, polydispersity, number and position of functional groups, architecture, etc.) is required. Equally important to the rapid introduction and incorporation of these materials into devices is the development of robust and simple techniques for their synthesis. Living free radical procedures have been developed and employed in the preparation of various functionalized polymers. These systems address a wide range of manufacturing issues for the successful adoption of such functional polymers as a viable nanofabrication technique. In the presentation, living radical polymerization was employed to design the photo-crosslinkable block copolymers, and their uses for various nano-fabrications such as buildup of 3-dimensional multilayered nanostructures and functional nanocomposites will be discussed.

Bio.  Joona Bang received his B.S. degree in Chemical Engineering from Seoul National University in 1999. He received his Ph.D. degree in Chemical Engineering from University of Minnesota in 2004 on block copolymer physics under a guidance of Prof. Tim Lodge. He worked as a postdoctoral fellow on polymer chemistry and polymer thin films in Prof. Hawker’s group at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Since 2006, he has been at Korea University as an associate professor in Chemical and Biological Engineering. His research interests include self-assembly of block copolymer thin films, living free radical polymerization, organic/inorganic nanocomposites, and polymeric membranes for water purification.