Education and experience:
Recently, I have developed a strong interest in applying artificial intelligence and machine learning techniques to automate polymer synthesis and predict their physicochemical properties.
I received my PhD in polymer chemistry in 2013 from the University of Lorraine, where I mastered the art of (co)polymer design. From 2013 to 2014, I joined the IMMM (University of Maine) as a postdoctoral researcher, where I gained extensive experience in colloid science and light scattering techniques. Seeking to broaden my expertise at the interface of macromolecules and biomedicine, I moved to LCPO (University of Bordeaux) for a second postdoctoral fellowship. Over the course of 18 months, I worked on the self-assembly of copolymers and lipids to produce biomimetic vesicles, which can serve as nanocarriers for drug/gene delivery and as cell models.
Currently, I am Associate Professor at ENSIC and a researcher at LCPM. I obtained my Habilitation to Supervise Research (HDR) in 2022, focusing on the preparation of polysaccharide-based nano-objects using the photo-RAFT Polymerization-Induced Self-Assembly (photo-RAFT PISA) methodology.
Research activity:
- Colloids and nanoobjects formulation via in-situ Polymerization Induced Self-Assembly (PISA).
- Macromolecular synthesis by controlled radical polymerization (ATRP, RAFT, PET-RAFT,...).
- Photo-RAFT polymerization.
- Polysaccharides modification and glycopolymers synthesis.
- Functional and sensitive polymers (pH, photo, thermal and redox).
- Physical-chemistry (light scattering) and amphiphiles self-assembly.
- Therapeutic nanotechnologies, drug-Delivery, biomaterials.
- Organic Chemistry.
Memberships, editorial and review activities:
- French Polymer Group (GFP). President of the East section (2022-...).
- French Chemical Society (SCF).
- Advisory Board of Polymers.
- Guest Editor for Polymers, special issue “Polymerization-Induced Self-Assembly, PISA” (2021).
- Guest Editor for Polymers, special issue “Glycopolymers and Polysaccharide-based Copolymers” (2019).
- Referee for many scientific journals: https://publons.com/researcher/1324992/khalid-ferji/
- Expert for French National Research Agency (2022), ACS Petroleum Research Fund (2021) and Czech Academy of Sciences (2020).
Selection of recent publications:
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- Progress in Aqueous Dispersion RAFT PISA, D. Ikkene, J-L. Six and K. Ferji, European Polymer Journal, 2023, In press. - Multicompartment Vesicles: A Key Intermediate Structure in Polymerization-Induced Self-Assembly of Graft Copolymers, D. Ikkene, A.A. Arteni, C. Boulogne, J-L. Six, K. Ferji*, Macromolecules, 2022, 55, 11, 4268–4275.
-Direct Access to Polysaccharide-Based Vesicles with a Tunable Membrane Thickness in a Large Concentration Window via Polymerization-Induced Self-Assembly, D. Ikkene, A.A. Arteni, M. Ouldali, G. Francius, A. Brûlet, J-L. Six, K. Ferji*, Biomacromolecules, 2021, 22, 3128-3137 |
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| -Mechanistic Insights into Oxygen Tolerance of Graphitic Carbon Nitride-Mediated Heterogeneous Photoinduced Electron Transfer-Reversible Addition Fragmentation Chain Transfer Polymerization, E. Fonseca, B. Chouchen, J-L. Six, R. Schneider, K. Ferji*, ACS Appl. Polym. Mater. 2021, 3, 7, 3649–3658 | ||||||||||
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Supervision:
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POSTDOCS: Dr. M. IBRAHIM (2019-2020) PhD students: Dr. D. IKKENE (2018-2021) H. WAN (2019-……) J.OUMERRI (2021-..……) E. FRANCISCA (2021-……) S. NIANG (2021-………) MASTER 2 Students: B. NOMEIR (2019) E. FRANCISCA (2020) V. ROMERO CASTRO (2020) C. CORSIN (2020) S. NIANG (2021) Y. SUN (2022) M. ABOUELRHANAIM (2022) |
MASTER 1 students: L. BARBIER (2017) L. CASES (2017) M. COT-AURIOL (2017) P. SEVEUR (2018) Z. POHANCENIKOVA (2018) A. EL ABBASSI (2018) S. AHMED TIDIANE (2019) S. ALLILOUCHE (2019) A. JEGOUX (2019) A. Lange (2021) B. Fauchet (2021) L. Diot (2022)
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