Curtis W. Frank - Professor

Office: Stauffer III, Room 105
Phone: (650) 723-4573
E-Mail: curt.frank@stanford.edu
Admin. Associate: Jeannie Lewandowski, (650) 725-3137

Professorships

• William M. Keck Sr. Professor of Chemical Engineering
• (by courtesy) Professor of Chemistry and Professor of Materials Science and Engineering

Highest Degree

• Ph.D., University of Illinois, 1972

Major Honors and Awards

• Fellow, American Physical Society.
• C. M. A. Stine Award, American Institute of Chemical Engineers.
• Principal Investigator, National Science Foundation Materials Research Science and Engineering Center on Polymer Interfaces and Macromolecular Assemblies (CPIMA).
• Polymer Physics, Molecular Assemblies, and Soft Material Interfaces

Research Area

Structure and Dynamics of Polymers in Constrained Geometry

The properties of ultrathin polymer films are often different from their bulk counterparts. We use spin casting, Langmuir-Blodgett deposition, and surface grafting to fabricate ultrathin films in the range of 100 to 1000 Angstroms thick. Macromolecular amphiphiles are examined at the air-water interface by surface pressure, Brewster angle microscopy, and interfacial shear measurements and on solid substrates by atomic force microscopy, FTIR, and ellipsometry. A vapor-deposition-polymerization process has been developed for covalent grafting of poly(amino acids) from solid substrates. FTIR measurements permit study of secondary structures (right and left-handed alpha helices, parallel and anti-parallel beta sheets) as a function of temperature and environment.

Interface Science of Biomolecular Materials

The cell membrane is a wonderfully complex structure having a phospholipids matrix with a wide variety of associated and integral membrane proteins. We are exploring highly simplified analogues of the cell membrane for possible applications in bioanalytical devices. Vesicles or liposomes of phospholipids are prepared by sonication or membrane extrusion and characterized by dynamic light scattering. The kinetics of adsorption of these vesicles on a solid substrate followed by fusion to form a continuous supported bilayer is followed by the quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation. This instrument allows determination of both the mass deposition as well as the viscoelastic coupling of the adsorbed film with the surrounding fluid. Fluorescence recovery after pattern photobleaching is used to monitor the lateral diffusivity of labeled lipids.

Polymer Development of an Artificial Cornea Based on Polymer Hydrogels

A broadly interdisciplinary collaboration has been established with the Department of Ophthalmology in the Stanford School of Medicine. We have designed and synthesized a fully interpenetrating network of two different hydrogel materials that have properties consistent with application as a substitute for the human cornea: high water swellability up to 85%,tensile strength comparable to the cornea, high glucose permeability comparable to the cornea, and sufficient tear strength to permit suturing. We have developed a technique for surface modification with adhesion peptides that allows binding of collagen and subsequent growth of epithelial cells. Broad questions on the relationships among molecular structure, processing protocol, and biomedical device application are being pursued.

Selected Recent Publications

1. N.J. Cho, K.H. Cheong, C.W. Frank, J.S. Glenn, “Binding Dynamics of Hepatitis C. Virus NS5A Amphipathic Peptide to Cell and Model Membranes,” submitted 2006.
2. N.J. Cho, S.J. Cho, J.O. Hardesty, K.H. Cheong, J.S. Glenn, and C.W. Frank, “Creation of Bio-barriers by Immobilizing Lipid Molecules as a Result of Deposition of Amphipathic Helical Peptides,” submitted 2006.
3. N.J. Cho, K.H. Cheong, J.S. Glenn, C.W. Frank, “A Novel Process to Create Lipid Bilayer Membranes on Gold and TiO2 Supports,” submitted.
4. N. Farooqui, D. Myung, W. Koh, A. Bakri, M. Carrasco, J. Noolandi, C.W. Frank, C.N. Ta, “In Vivo Biocompatibility of a Novel Hydrogel Construct Designed for Corneal Implant Applications,” submitted 2006.
5. L.Y. Hwang, H. Goetz, C.J. Hawker, C.W. Frank, “Glyco-acrylate Copolymers for Bilayer Tethering on Benzophenone-modified Substrates,” Colloids and Surfaces B: Biointerfaces, in press.
6. A.R. Patel, C.W. Frank, “Quantitative Analysis of Tethered Vesicle Assemblies by Quartz Crystal Microbalance with Dissipation Monitoring: Binding Dynamics and Bound Water Content,” Langmuir 22, 7587-7599, 2006. [RJ]
7. J.N. D’Amour, J.J.R. Stalgren, K.K. Kanazawa, C.W. Frank, M. Rodahl, D. Johannsmann, “Capillary Aging of the Contacts Between Glass Spheres and a Quartz Resonator Surface,” Physical Review Letters 96, 58301-58304, 2006. [RJ]
8. P. Theato, M. Brehmer, L. Conrad, C.W. Frank, L. Funk, D.Y. Yoon, J. Luning, “Surface Reorganization of an Amphiphilic Block Copolymer Film Studied by NEXAFS Spectroscopy,” Macromolecules 39, 2592-2595, 2006. [RJ]
9. K.C. Weng, J.L. Kanter, W.H. Robinson, C.W. Frank, “Fluid-Supported Lipid Bilayers Containing Monosialoganglioside GM1: A QCM-D and FRAP Study,” Colloids and Surfaces B: Biointerfaces 50, 76-84, 2006. [RJ]
10. M. Malkoch, R. Vestberg, N. Gupta, L. Mespouille, P. Dubois, A.F. Mason, J.L. Hedrick, Q. Liao, C.W. Frank, K. Kingsbury, “Synthesis of Well-Defined Networks Using Click Chemistry,” Chemical Communications 26, 2774-2776, 2006. [RJ]
11. Y. Kim, J. Pyun, J.M.J. Frechet, C.J. Hawker, C.W. Frank, “The Dramatic Effect of Architecture on the Self-Assembly of Block Copolymers at Interfaces,” Langmuir 21, 10444-10458, 2005. [RJ]
12. Y. Jung, T.Y. Cho, D.Y. Yoon, C.W. Frank, J. Luning, “Surface Characteristics of Polyfluorene Films Studied by Polarization-Dependent NEXAFS Spectroscopy,” Macromolecules 38, 867-872, 2005. [RJ]
13. Q.R. Huang, C.W. Frank, D. Mecerreyes, W. Volksen, R.D. Miller, “Phase Separation Behavior of Poly(methyl methacrylate-co-dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate)/methyl silsesquioxane Hybrid Nanocomposites Studied by Dansyl Fluorescence,” Chemistry of Materials 17, 1521-1528, 2005. [RJ]
14. R.R. Barto, C.W. Frank, P.V. Bedworth, S. Ermer, R.E. Taylor, “Near-Infrared Optical-Absorption Behavior in High-Beta Nonlinear Optical Chromophore-Polymer Guest-Host Materials. II. Dye Spacer Length Effects in an Amorphous Polycarbonate Copolymer Host,” J. Chemical Physics 122, 1-14, 2005. [RJ]

Current Students and Researchers

Ph.D. Students—Undergraduate Institutions

• Bayu Atmaja Thedjoisworo—University of California Berkeley
• Bobby Feller—University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
• Jasper (Joe) Hardesty—University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
• Karen Havenstrite— Cornell University
• Qi Liao—Peking University
• Shira Mandel—Union College
• David Myung—Yale University
• Rachel Parke-Houben—Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• Ankit Patel—University of Maryland, College Park
• Masaki Yanagioka—University of Tokyo
• Wen-Wei (Leo) Zheng (Chemistry)—Peking University

Visiting Researchers

• Nuria Queralto Gratacos—Institut Quimic de Sarria, Universitat Ramon Llul, Spain

Postdoctoral Fellows—Doctoral Institutions

• Nam Joon Cho—Stanford University
• Beinn Muir—Cambridge University, UK