Nathalie Katsonis

Last updated
Nathalie Katsonis
Born (1978-02-22) 22 February 1978 (age 46)
Vienna, Austria
Alma mater Chimie ParisTech
Pierre and Marie Curie University
Known forBioinspired molecular systems
Scientific career
Institutions University of Groningen
University of Twente
Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique

Nathalie Helene Katsonis (born 22 February 1978 in Vienna, Austria) is a Professor of Active Molecular Systems at the Stratingh Institute for Chemistry, University of Groningen. In 2016 she was awarded the Royal Netherlands Chemical Society Gold Medal.

Contents

Early life and education

Katsonis was born in Vienna. [1] She grew up in Orsay, in Paris Region. She is half French and half Greek. She studied chemical engineering at the Chimie ParisTech, before moving to Ecole Normal Superieure for her graduate studies with Ludovic Jullien. Katsonis earned her doctoral degree at the Pierre and Marie Curie University. She worked on nanoscale probes of two dimensional molecular self-assemblies with Denis Fichou. [2] She joined the research group of Ben Feringa at the University of Groningen, where she worked on self-assembly of motors and switches. [3] Whilst at Groningen Katsonis developed scanning probe microscopy for the determination of molecular chirality. [4]

Research and career

Katsonis joined the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) in 2007 and started to work on light-responsive chiral liquid crystals. [3] She was made a Group Leader at the University of Groningen and held a visiting position at KU Leuven. In 2012 she was awarded a Royal Society International Exchange grant to work with Steve Fletcher on light responsive polymers. [5] [6] Katsonis proposed the materials could be used for microfluidics or soft robotics. [5] Her research is inspired by nature, where helical structures are often created for movement. [7]

She moved to the University of Twente in 2013, and was promoted to Professor in 2016. [3] [7] She returned to the University of Groningen as Professor of Active Molecular Systems in 2020. Katsonis has worked on squishy light responsive materials, which can convert light energy into mechanical work. She demonstrated that it is possible to switch between left and right-handed helixes in cholesteric liquid crystals using light. [8] She has also showed that it is possible to use twisted liquid crystals as organising templates to design self-assemblies of superparamagnetic nanoparticles. [9] In 2017 she was awarded a European Research Council Consolidator Grant in nanotechnology. [10] Her recent work has been concerned with unravelling the molecular origin of purposeful motion, both in space and time at the nanoscale.

Awards and honours

Her awards and honours include;

Selected publications

Her publications include;

Academic service

Katsonis serves on the Nature Travel Grants panel. She is an Editor of the journals Communications Chemistry [21] and ChemPhotoChem.

Personal life

Katsonis is in partnership with Tibor Kudernac and has three children. [22]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Liquid crystal</span> State of matter with properties of both conventional liquids and crystals

Liquid crystal (LC) is a state of matter whose properties are between those of conventional liquids and those of solid crystals. For example, a liquid crystal can flow like a liquid, but its molecules may be oriented in a common direction as in a solid. There are many types of LC phases, which can be distinguished by their optical properties. The contrasting textures arise due to molecules within one area of material ("domain") being oriented in the same direction but different areas having different orientations. An LC material may not always be in an LC state of matter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Enantiomer</span> Stereoisomers that are nonsuperposable mirror images of each other

In chemistry, an enantiomer – also called optical isomer, antipode, or optical antipode – is one of two stereoisomers that are nonsuperposable onto their own mirror image. Enantiomers of each other are much like one's right and left hands; without mirroring one of them, hands cannot be superposed onto each other. It is solely a relationship of chirality and the permanent three-dimensional relationships among molecules or other chemical structures: no amount of re-orientiation of a molecule as a whole or conformational change converts one chemical into its enantiomer. Chemical structures with chirality rotate plane-polarized light. A mixture of equal amounts of each enantiomer, a racemic mixture or a racemate, does not rotate light.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Azobenzene</span> Two phenyl rings linked by a N═N double bond

Azobenzene is a photoswitchable chemical compound composed of two phenyl rings linked by a N=N double bond. It is the simplest example of an aryl azo compound. The term 'azobenzene' or simply 'azo' is often used to refer to a wide class of similar compounds. These azo compounds are considered as derivatives of diazene (diimide), and are sometimes referred to as 'diazenes'. The diazenes absorb light strongly and are common dyes. Different classes of azo dyes exist, most notably the ones substituted with heteroaryl rings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Molecular machine</span> Molecular-scale artificial or biological device

Molecular machines are a class of molecules typically described as an assembly of a discrete number of molecular components intended to produce mechanical movements in response to specific stimuli, mimicking macromolecular devices such as switches and motors. Naturally occurring or biological molecular machines are responsible for vital living processes such as DNA replication and ATP synthesis. Kinesins and ribosomes are examples of molecular machines, and they often take the form of multi-protein complexes. For the last several decades, scientists have attempted, with varying degrees of success, to miniaturize machines found in the macroscopic world. The first example of an artificial molecular machine (AMM) was reported in 1994, featuring a rotaxane with a ring and two different possible binding sites. In 2016 the Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to Jean-Pierre Sauvage, Sir J. Fraser Stoddart, and Bernard L. Feringa for the design and synthesis of molecular machines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nanocar</span> Chemical compound

The nanocar is a molecule designed in 2005 at Rice University by a group headed by Professor James Tour. Despite the name, the original nanocar does not contain a molecular motor, hence, it is not really a car. Rather, it was designed to answer the question of how fullerenes move about on metal surfaces; specifically, whether they roll or slide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Synthetic molecular motor</span> Man-made molecular machines

Synthetic molecular motors are molecular machines capable of continuous directional rotation under an energy input. Although the term "molecular motor" has traditionally referred to a naturally occurring protein that induces motion, some groups also use the term when referring to non-biological, non-peptide synthetic motors. Many chemists are pursuing the synthesis of such molecular motors.

A photoswitch is a type of molecule that can change its structural geometry and chemical properties upon irradiation with electromagnetic radiation. Although often used interchangeably with the term molecular machine, a switch does not perform work upon a change in its shape whereas a machine does. However, photochromic compounds are the necessary building blocks for light driven molecular motors and machines. Upon irradiation with light, photoisomerization about double bonds in the molecule can lead to changes in the cis- or trans- configuration. These photochromic molecules are being considered for a range of applications.

A molecular switch is a molecule that can be reversibly shifted between two or more stable states. The molecules may be shifted between the states in response to environmental stimuli, such as changes in pH, light, temperature, an electric current, microenvironment, or in the presence of ions and other ligands. In some cases, a combination of stimuli is required. The oldest forms of synthetic molecular switches are pH indicators, which display distinct colors as a function of pH. Currently synthetic molecular switches are of interest in the field of nanotechnology for application in molecular computers or responsive drug delivery systems. Molecular switches are also important in biology because many biological functions are based on it, for instance allosteric regulation and vision. They are also one of the simplest examples of molecular machines.

A blue phase mode LCD is a liquid crystal display (LCD) technology that uses highly twisted cholesteric phases in a blue phase. It was first proposed in 2007 to obtain a better display of moving images with, for example, frame rates of 100–120 Hz to improve the temporal response of LCDs. This operational mode for LCDs also does not require anisotropic alignment layers and thus theoretically simplifies the LCD manufacturing process.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Takuzo Aida</span> Japanese polymer chemist

Takuzo Aida is a polymer chemist known for his work in the fields of supramolecular chemistry, materials chemistry and polymer chemistry. Aida, who is the Deputy Director for the RIKEN Center for Emergent Matter Science (CEMS) and a Distinguished University Professor at the University of Tokyo, has made pioneering contributions to the initiation, fundamental progress, and conceptual expansion of supramolecular polymerization. Aida has also been a leader and advocate for addressing critical environmental issues caused by plastic waste and microplastics in the oceans, soil, and food supply, through the development of dynamic, responsive, healable, reorganizable, and adaptive supramolecular polymers and related soft materials.

A liquid-crystal laser is a laser that uses a liquid crystal as the resonator cavity, allowing selection of emission wavelength and polarization from the active laser medium. The lasing medium is usually a dye doped into the liquid crystal. Liquid-crystal lasers are comparable in size to diode lasers, but provide the continuous wide spectrum tunability of dye lasers while maintaining a large coherence area. The tuning range is typically several tens of nanometers. Self-organization at micrometer scales reduces manufacturing complexity compared to using layered photonic metamaterials. Operation may be either in continuous wave mode or in pulsed mode.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chirality</span> Difference in shape from a mirror image

Chirality is a property of asymmetry important in several branches of science. The word chirality is derived from the Greek χείρ (kheir), "hand", a familiar chiral object.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Antal Jákli</span> Hungarian-American physicist (born 1956)

Antal I. "Tony" Jákli is a Hungarian-American physicist and professor of chemical physics at Kent State University. He is known for his work with bent-core, flexoelectric, and ferroelectric liquid crystals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ben Feringa</span> Dutch Nobel laureate in chemistry

Bernard Lucas "Ben" Feringa is a Dutch synthetic organic chemist, specializing in molecular nanotechnology and homogeneous catalysis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Subi Jacob George</span> Indian organic chemist

Subi Jacob George is an Indian organic chemist, known for his work in the fields of supramolecular chemistry, materials chemistry, and polymer chemistry. His research interests includes organic and supramolecular synthesis, functional organic materials, supramolecular polymers, chiral amplification, hybrid materials, and optoelectronic materials.

Petra Rudolf is a German and Italian solid state physicist. As of 2003, Rudolf has been a professor at the Materials Science Centre, University of Groningen, Netherlands.

Noel Anthony Clark is an American physicist, university professor at the University of Colorado Boulder, and pioneer in the development of electro-optical applications of liquid crystals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roeland Nolte</span> Dutch chemist (1944–2024)

Roeland J. M. Nolte was a Dutch chemist, known for his work in the fields of organic chemistry, biochemistry, polymer chemistry, and supramolecular chemistry. He was an emeritus Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences professor and an emeritus professor of organic chemistry at Radboud University in Nijmegen, The Netherlands. Until his death, he held a special chair, i.e. professor of molecular nanotechnology, at Radboud University. Nolte was considered to be one of the pioneers of the field of supramolecular chemistry, which encompasses the design and synthesis of new chemical structures from low molecular weight compounds and biopolymers using non-covalent interactions. He published many studies on supramolecular assembly and biomimetic catalysts, which find applications in the field of nanomaterials and medicine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yuriy Reznikov</span> Ukrainian physicist

Yuriy Reznikov was a Ukrainian physicist, Head of the Department of Crystals at NASU Institute of Physics and a world-renown expert in the field of liquid crystals. He is known for his work on photoalignment, "giant" optical non-linearity of liquid crystals and nano-colloids.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Valery Shibaev</span> Professor

Valery Petrovich Shibaev is a Soviet, Russian chemist and professor at Moscow State University. He is a specialist in the field of physical chemistry of macromolecular compounds and elected member of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

References

  1. ↑ "Building & Probing Small". www.ldorganisation.com. Retrieved 2019-09-13.
  2. 1 2 Nathalie Katsonis - Shining light on life-like materials, 2 November 2018, retrieved 2019-09-13
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Nathalie Katsonis's Profile |". Global Young Academy. Retrieved 2019-09-13.
  4. ↑ Katsonis, Nathalie; Xu, Hong; Haak, Robert M.; Kudernac, Tibor; Tomović, Željko; George, Subi; Van der Auweraer, Mark; Schenning, Albert P. H. J.; Meijer, E. W. (2008). "Emerging Solvent-Induced Homochirality by the Confinement of Achiral Molecules Against a Solid Surface" (PDF). Angewandte Chemie International Edition. 47 (27): 4997–5001. doi:10.1002/anie.200800255. hdl: 11370/5a2f9f46-93d8-4f91-9768-9b7bb279f774 . ISSN   1521-3773. PMID   18504789.
  5. 1 2 Polymer Springs Coil Like A Cucumber Plant with UV Light, 14 March 2014, retrieved 2019-09-13
  6. ↑ Iamsaard, S. Asshoff, S.J. Matt, B.D. Kudernac, T. Cornelissen, J.J.L.M. Fletcher, S.P. Katsonis, N.H. (2014). Conversion of light into macroscopic helical motion. Nature Publishing Group. OCLC   893504434.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  7. 1 2 3 International, C2W. "'Thinking different about materials' | C2W 2017 Issue 3". c2winternational.nl. Retrieved 2019-09-13.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  8. ↑ Lacaze, Emmanuelle; Katsonis, Nathalie; Pablo, Juan J. de; Iamsaard, Supitchaya; Zhou, Ye; Sleczkowski, Piotr (2018-04-24). "Light-activated helical inversion in cholesteric liquid crystal microdroplets". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 115 (17): 4334–4339. Bibcode:2018PNAS..115.4334S. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1720742115 . ISSN   0027-8424. PMC   5924914 . PMID   29626129.
  9. ↑ Matt, Benjamin; Pondman, Kirsten M.; Asshoff, Sarah J.; ten Haken, Bennie; Fleury, Benoit; Katsonis, Nathalie (2014). "Soft Magnets from the Self-Organization of Magnetic Nanoparticles in Twisted Liquid Crystals". Angewandte Chemie. 126 (46): 12654–12658. Bibcode:2014AngCh.12612654M. doi:10.1002/ange.201404312. ISSN   1521-3757.
  10. 1 2 "ERC Consolidator grants for Academy members and Young Academy alumni — KNAW". www.knaw.nl. Retrieved 2019-09-13.
  11. ↑ "ERC STARTING GRANT FOR NATHALIE KATSONIS | BNT". Universiteit Twente. Retrieved 2019-09-13.
  12. ↑ "Photo-Engineered Helices in Chiral Liquid Crystals - Dimensions". app.dimensions.ai. Retrieved 2019-09-13.
  13. ↑ "Twente University Fund". Universiteit Twente. Retrieved 2019-09-13.
  14. ↑ "Katsonis, Prof. dr. N.H. (Nathalie) —". www.dejongeakademie.nl. Retrieved 2019-09-13.
  15. ↑ Nathalie Katsonis: nieuw bij De Jonge Akademie, 25 March 2014, retrieved 2019-09-13
  16. ↑ "News | Nathalie Katsonis received the NWO Athena Award 2016 | Home (EN)". Universiteit Twente. Retrieved 2019-09-13.
  17. ↑ "WIE ZIJN WIJ". raadns (in Dutch). Retrieved 2019-09-13.
  18. ↑ https://khmw.nl/nieuwe-directeuren-en-leden-2021/
  19. ↑ "Professor Werdelmann-Stiftung | Deutsches Stiftungszentrum".
  20. ↑ "Sauvage-Stoddart-Feringa Awards".
  21. ↑ "Editorial Board | Communications Chemistry" . Retrieved 2019-11-04.
  22. ↑ "Nathalie Katsonis and Tibor Kudernac are leaving the UT to work at the University of Groningen". Universiteit Twente. Retrieved 2023-06-21.
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