The European Polymer Federation (EPF) in collaboration with Italian Association of Macromolecular Science and Technology (AIM) is honored and pleased to announce the organization of EUropean POlymer Conference on “Polymer Brushes” (EUPOC 2024) to be held Bertinoro (Italy), May 26-30, 2024.

The development of surfaces with well-engineered properties is a significant challenge for chemists and physicists. In this context, polymer brushes, which consist of thin organic layers of polymers tethered by one end to a substrate, represent an extremely versatile tool in surface engineering. With great progress in living/controlled, or even precision, polymerization methods, organic reactions, and supramolecular strategies, excellent control over the composition, architecture, and length of tethered polymer chains can be achieved leading to  an unprecedented variety of polymer brush structures.

Control of wetting properties, tuning of interaction with biological media, colloidal stabilization, and resistance to fouling are examples of successful application of polymer brushes. In addition, surfaces, and interfaces responsive to the surrounding environment are essential in the design of devices, from electronics to medicine.

EUPOC 2024 will offer a platform to discuss the main challenges facing this important research field, bringing together worldwide scientists and students working on different aspects of polymer brushes.

The conference will be based on plenary lectures, oral communications, and poster presentations. Major addressed topics will be:

• Synthesis and processing of Polymer Brushes (PB)
• Advanced characterization of PB
• PB theory
• Modeling of PB properties
• Bioinspired PB
• Responsive PB
• Cutting-edge applications of PB