| Citation | Professor of Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, University of Sheffield
Steven Armes has developed robust new synthetic routes to controlled-structure water-soluble polymers. He optimised the living radical polymerisation of hydrophilic methacrylates, discovered a new class of 'schizophrenic' diblock copolymers whose amphiphilicity can be switched on or off, and has designed a range of novel biocompatible block copolymer gels and vesicles. His work on water-borne polymer colloids has led to novel shell cross-linked micelles and nanocomposite particles, with applications in paints, anti-reflective coatings and as stimulus-responsive Pickering emulsifiers. More recently, he has pioneered polymerisation-induced self-assembly to produce a range of bespoke spherical, worm-like and vesicular nano-objects via RAFT dispersion polymerisation.
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