Dr Rizzardo, CSIRO Fellow, devises living free radical polymerisation technology that revolutionises polymer development.
Current activities
Dr Ezio Rizzardo is a CSIRO Fellow whose research at CSIRO has focussed on developing methods for controlling free radical polymerisation.
Dr Rizzardo is currently developing new technologies to produce polymers with controlled structure and architecture. There are multiple applications in industry ranging from coating to adhesives and biosensors.
Dr Rizzardo and his team have devised living free radical polymerisation methods including RAFT, a reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer. This is a chain reaction form of free radical polymerisation. This creates polymers with simple or complex architecture, such as:
- gradient
- diblock
- triblock
- star.
The polymers are all of predetermined average molecular size and narrow molecular size distributions.
Background
Before joining CSIRO to pursue a career in polymer science, Dr Rizzardo conducted postdoctoral work on synthesis of biologically active compounds including:
This work has applications ranging from coatings, adhesives, and cosmetics, to optical fibres, biosensors, and drug delivery.
- vindolines
- vitamin D analogues
- prostaglandins.
He conducted this work at:
- Rice University, Houston, Texas, USA
- Research Institute for Medicine and Chemistry, USA
- Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory.
Dr Rizzardo’s research at CSIRO has focused on developing methods for understanding and controlling free radical polymerisation. This will produce polymers of better-defined structure and properties.
Academic qualifications
Dr Rizzardo graduated with first class Honours from the University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and was awarded a Doctorate by The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia, for his studies of the photochemistry of organic nitro compounds.
Achievements
Dr Rizzardo has produced a number of patents on the control of free radical polymerisation. One of these was first and a second was ninth in the list of the world’s most cited patents in Chemistry and Related Science for the year 2002.
For his work Dr Rizzardo has received several awards including:
- Australian Polymer Medal, Royal Australian Chemical Institute
- Applied Research Medal, Royal Australian Chemical Institute
- HG Smith Memorial Medal, Royal Australian Chemical Institute
- Chairman’s Gold Medal, CSIRO
- Most Prolific Inventor Award, CSIRO
- Centenary Medal, Australian Government.
Dr Rizzardo is co-author of some 180 journal papers, which to date have received over 8 000 citations, and 31 worldwide patent families.
Dr Rizzardo is a Fellow of the:
- Australian Academy of Science
- Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering.
Read more about RAFT technologies.
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