THE BARNES LABORATORY
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WELCOME to the barnes laboratory

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The Barnes research group at Washington University in St. Louis employs a multi-disciplinary approach towards research challenges in the areas of stimuli-responsive polymers and materials, nanoparticle-based combination drug delivery, biomaterials, and topologically complex polymers and materials.  The “keystone” of our research program is synthetic organic chemistry, which is central to the preparation of all functional materials in our group.  Supramolecular and polymer chemistries are directly associated with this keystone, and together, all three areas represent the foundation of the research group.  We aim to build on this foundation by constructing novel 'smart' materials with well-defined functions – for both fundamental and applied purposes – that will ultimately lead us down research pathways in the areas of nanomaterials, biomedical engineering, and inorganic and environmental chemistries. ​
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News & Events


barnes group holiday dinner at rosalita's

December 15th, 2022
We celebrated a fun and productive 2022 by dining together with friends and family of the group at Rosalita's Cantina! ​Here's to another great year in 2023!
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NATE COLLEY'S PAPER IS NOW ONLINE IN ACS CENTRAL SCIENCE!

November 29th, 2022
Nate Colley's first-author publication was accepted and is now online in ACS Central Science. In this paper, we described an approach to synthesize a family of unimolecular oligo[n]catenanes, the largest consisting of six mechanically interlocked molecular rings. This [6]catenane represents a record for the most rings interlocked for any isolated linear catenanes. Congrats Nate on your second, first-author paper!!  ​
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congratulations 
​Mark nosiglia!

August 22nd, 2022
Congratulations to Dr. Mark Nosiglia, who successfully defended his PhD dissertation today!! Mark was an integral part of team catenane, and worked closely with OG Dr. Nate Colley to build the subgroup into what it is today. We wish Mark all the best as he starts his postdoc position in the Leibfarth group at UNC Chemistry!!
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NSF Grant awarded!

July 8th, 2022
Our group is awarded a grant from the National Science Foundation (Division of Chemistry - Macromolecular, Supramolecular, and Nanochemistry) to support our ongoing research into the synthesis of catenanes and catenane-based polymers and materials!
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Mark Nosiglia's paper is now online in JACS!

May 26th, 2022
Mark Nosiglia's first-author publication was accepted and is now online in the Journal of the American Chemical Society. In this paper, we described an investigation into how the mechanical properties of gels could be changed by metalating and demetalating [2]catenane crosslinkers, providing control over the movement of the interlocked molecular rings and morphology of the gel network!! Congrats Mark N. on your first, first-author paper!!  
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St. louis blues game!!

March 24th, 2022
Grad student Mark Nosiglia organizes the group's first fun event together in over two years (!) to watch a St. Louis Blues game against the Philadelphia Flyers. Although the hometown Blues lost 5-2, it was great to spend time as a group outside the lab/office! Thanks Mark N.! 
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Mark Palmquist's paper is now online in polymer chemistry!

March 16th, 2022
Mark Palmquist's first-author publication was accepted and is now online in the journal Polymer Chemistry. This is the group's first foray into synthesizing functional microparticles -- through an emulsion polymerization involving household cooking oil -- that can be electrostratically loaded with negatively charged molecules that can be released by visible light via a photoredox mechanism and/or counterion exchange. More to come on this exciting new research area in the coming months!! Congrats Mark on your first, first-author paper!!  
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Congratulations Lei!

March 1st, 2022
Former Barnes group postdoc, Dr. Lei Li, has accepted an offer to become a tenure-track Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemistry at Western Kentucky University. Way to go Lei!! Can't wait to see the first publications that come out from your research group in Bowling Green, KY!
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Congratulations Ruihan!

February 17th, 2022
As the third graduate student to earn their PhD from the Barnes group, Ruihan Li deserves a proper sendoff, WashU swag included! Ruihan was an integral, early member in the group who led the charge on our polymer-based nanoparticles and drug delivery research (more publications coming soon on this!). She is as bright as they come, super motivated and hardworking, and was a valuable mentor to so many junior graduate and undergraduate researchers. She will certainly be missed! We wish you all the best as you pursue your postdoc at Boston Children's Hospital/Harvard Medical School in Cambridge, MA!!  
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JONATHAN IS SELECTED AS A 2021 Rising star BY acs polymers Au!

February 9th, 2022
Jonathan is selected as a 2021 Rising Star by the journal ACS Polymers Au! Honored to be included with these other talented polymer chemists. This recognition would not be possible without the effort of the hardworking members of the Barnes group over the past five years. More exciting hydrogel chemistry and applications coming soon!
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jonathan is selected as a 2021 emerging investigator by chemical communications!

February 8th, 2022
Jonathan is selected as a 2021 Emerging Investigator by the journal Chemical Communications! Honored to be included with these other talented investigators. The overwhelming majority of the credit for this recognition goes to the hardworking members of the Barnes group over the past five years. More to come on this exciting research front!
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Mary's PAPER IS ACCEPTED IN ACS Polymers au!

December 22nd, 2021
Mary Danielson's paper on photoinduced electron transfer (PET) between polythiophene-polyviologen bilayered thin films is published online in the journal ACS Polymers Au (open access). Many thanks to the Loomis group at WashU for their help in understanding the kinetics for PET and recombination between the two layers using femtosecond transient absorption spectroscopy. Part of the 2021 Rising Stars issue. Congrats Mary and all co-authors on this fun crossover between materials and physical chemistry!
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Abby and Mark P.'s paper is accepted in chemical communications!

December 17th, 2021
Abby (1st author) and Mark's (2nd author) paper on the multi-gram, iterative step-growth synthesis of main-chain polyviologens, with up to 26 viologen subunits (a record for unimolecular PVs!), and their degradation under mildly basic conditions in solution or as gels is accepted in Chemical Communications. Part of the 2021 Emerging Investigators issue. Congrats Abby, Mark Palmquist, and all group members who contributed to this fun project! 
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Congrats Nate! 

December 8th, 2021
 Nate Colley  - the de facto 'group dad' - is the second PhD to graduate from the Barnes group this year!! He passed his dissertation defense with flying colors as his committee was impressed with his contributions to the group the past 5+ years. Nate left an indelible mark on the group, having contributed to nearly every research project, while spearheading our work on developing efficient catenane methodologies. His departure also represents the closing of the first grad class to pass through the Barnes group, and so he will be greatly missed! Congrats Dr. Colley on this well-earned accomplishment and for your new position at Eurofins EAG Laboratories in St. Louis!! 
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Barnes and loomis are awarded a graduate dei grant by the packard foundation

October 22nd, 2021
Professors Barnes and Loomis are awarded a $90,000 four-year seed grant from the David and Lucile Packard Foundation to recruit, retain, and mentor graduate students from underrepresented backgrounds. Additional support from Dean Hu (Arts & Sciences), Interim Vice Provost of Graduate Education Maffly-Kipp, and the Chemistry Department will allow Barnes and Loomis to fund on average a total of four students during each summer of the grant, with other activites such as conferences, seminar visitors, and social functions included throughout each year. Many thanks to the Packard Foundation and WashU's administrators for recognizing the importance of addressing the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion gap that exists in STEM graduate education.
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Congrats abby! 

June 11th, 2021
Abby Delawder is the first ever PhD graduate from the Barnes group!! Her committee, consisting of Professors Taylor, Foston, Barnes, Wencewicz (not shown), and Tolman (not shown), were very impressed with Abby's performance during her defense and over the past five years. It is definitely the end of an era, and we couldn't be more proud of Dr. Delawder as she moves on to work for Immunophotonics, Inc. in St. Louis, MO. Congrats Abby on this well-earned accomplishment!! 
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Congrats to max, Tiana Lucas, and Anna for graduating from washu and the barnes group!

May 20th, 2021
Barnes group undergraduate researchers, Max Gruschka, Tiana Saak,  Lucas Cruz, and Anna Vaclavek all graduated from WashU's Department of Chemistry with Latin and Departmental Honors! This is an amazing bunch of future physicians and scientists and we couldn't be more proud of how much they've grown over the past few years. Can't wait to see what the future holds for these four! Congrats to all of you for your many accomplishments while at WashU and we wish you the best moving forward!!
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Congrats Sheila! 

March 23rd, 2021
Barnes group member and 2nd year graduate student, Sheila Tran, is recognized by the National Science Foundation with an Honorable Mention in this year's Graduate Research Fellowship competition. Congrats Sheila for this great recognition!! 
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Tiana Saak Gets full ride to Columbia Medical school

February 23rd, 2021
Barnes group undergraduate researcher Tiana Saak is selected to receive a full-tuition, merit-based scholarship from Columbia Medical School! 
Congrats Tiana!!
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welcome tarryn! 

January 15th, 2021
Tarryn officially joins the Barnes group as a first-year graduate student! She comes to us from Austin Peay State University in Tennessee, where she worked under the tutelage of Dr. Fred Matthews. Welcome Tarryn!!
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Lucas cruz Gets full ride to nyu and Washu Medical schools

January 11th, 2021
Barnes group undergraduate researcher Lucas Cruz is selected to receive full-tuition scholarships from both WashU Med and NYU Med!  Congrats Lucas!!
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Faheem's paper gets the front outside cover of Chemical science! 

October 21st, 2020
Faheem's paper on multimodal zinc porphyrin-based hydrogels that can respond to blue and red light (via photoredox) and/or heat (via NIPAM activation), gets the front cover of Chemical Science. Congrats, Faheem, on this nice achievement for your final first-author paper in the Barnes group!!
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Faheem and Xuesong's paper is published in Chemical science

September 3rd, 2020
Congrats to former postdocs, Faheem Amir (1st author) and Xuesong Li (2nd author), whose recent paper on orthogonal modes of actuating hydrogels using porphyrin-based visible light photoredox catalysis and thermoresponsive polymers was just accepted in the journal Chemical Science! Congrats to all co-authors for their hard work and dedication on this project!! 
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jonathan IS NAMED A 2020 Young Investigator by ACS Polymeric materials: Science & Engineering 

July 18th, 2020
Jonathan was selected to be a part of the 2020 class of PMSE Young Investigators by the American Chemical Society! Very honored to receive this recognition, albeit not in person at the national meeting in San Francisco due to the global pandemic. Nonetheless, this honor is a tribute to all the hard work and dedication of past and present Barnes group members! See Ampersand highlight here.
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NATE AND MARK'S PAPER ACCEPTED IN THE JOURNAL INORGANIC CHEMISTRY

July 1st, 2020
Years of hard work by Nate Colley (1st author) and Mark Nosiglia (2nd author) paid off when their paper on an efficient, one-pot synthesis of [4]catenates was accepted in the journal Inorganic Chemistry! Congrats to all co-authors for their contributions on this challenging project. More exciting discoveries coming soon from this crew!
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Abby Delawder IS NAMED A 2020 Scholar by the philanthropic educational org. 

April, 2020
Barnes group graduate student and current NSF Fellow, Abby Delawder, is named a 2020 P.E.O. Scholar by the Sisterhood of the Philanthropic Educational Organization! Congrats Abby on another amazing and well-deserved recognition!!
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Mark Palmquist is named a 2020 NDSEG Fellow by Department of Defense

April 17th, 2020
Barnes group graduate student, Mark Palmquist, is named a 2020 National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate (NDSEG) Fellow by the DoD! Congrats Mark on this very well-deserved recognition!!
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Abby and Jonathan's Highlight published in nature chemistry

March 27th, 2020
Abby and Jonathan's  News & Views article  highlighting the fine work of David Lunn, Hagan Bayley, and co-workers at the University of Oxford is published online in Nature Chemistry! 
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2020 Emerging Investigator

November 29th, 2019
Jonathan is recognized by the journal Polymer Chemistry as a 2020 Emerging Investigator!! Very honored to be part of such an amazing class of 2020 investigators in the field of polymer chemistry!
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Jonathan is Named
​a Kavli Fellow

September 15th, 2019
Jonathan is named a Kavli Fellow and got the opportunity to travel to Jerusalem to take part in the Israel-Kavli Frontiers of Science Symposium hosted by the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, the Kavli Foundation, and the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities.  Such an amazing experience to visit the Middle East and hear about some of the cool science being done in both the U.S. and Israel!! ​
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Bowling Outing!

August 15th, 2019
Barnes group members had some fun bowling together before the semester officially starts in 10 days!!  Top bowling honors go to graduate student Mark Palmquist (rolled a 137) and postdoctoral associate 
Dr. Faheem Solangi (rolled a 131)!
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Congrats Abby!

August 8th, 2019
Rising 4th year graduate student  Abby Delawder has been selected to receive a PMSE Graduate Student Travel Award to attend the ACS National Meeting in San Diego.

​Congrats Abby on this well-deserved recognition!!
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Welcome Jovelt

June 17th, 2019
The Barnes group is excited to welcome Jovelt Dorsainvil this summer as a Post-Bac researcher who will be starting in the PhD program at WashU this fall!!  Here's to a fun and productive summer!

​Welcome Jovelt!!
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Welcome Abdul

June 10th, 2019
The Barnes group is excited to welcome Abdul-Haq Alli to the lab this summer as part of the Young Scientist Program - Summer Focus.  Abdul joins us from Collegiate School of Medicine and Bioscience (CSMB), which is a high school located in St. Louis.  He is currently a Senior at CSMB, and he aspires to go to college to pursue a degree in science on a pre-med track.

​Welcome Abdul!
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More News & Events
  • Research
  • Group Members
    • About Jonathan
    • Past Members
    • Group Pictures
  • Publications
  • News & Events
    • News & Events Archived
  • Teaching
  • Outreach
  • Equipment & Instrumentation
  • Contact