Professor George John

The ScienceDaily article Low-cost, “Green” Way To Make Antimicrobial Paints Developed said

Researchers at The City College of New York (CCNY) and Rice University have developed a low-cost, environmentally friendly technique for embedding antimicrobial silver nanoparticles into vegetable oil-based paints. This method could give homes and workplaces a new defense against germs by applying a fresh coat of paint.
 
Silver’s antibacterial properties have been known for thousands of years, and silver nanoparticles offer superior antibacterial activity while being non-toxic. However, coatings containing antimicrobial agents have failed commercially in the past due to their complex, multi-step preparation methods and high cost of production.
 
The CCNY/Rice team developed a “green chemistry” approach to synthesize metal nanoparticles in common household paints in situ without using hazardous reagents and solvents. “We extensively worked on poly-unsaturated hydrocarbon chain containing polymers/oils to devise a novel approach to nanoparticle formation” said Dr. George John, Professor of Chemistry at CCNY and lead author of the article.

George John, Ph.D. is Associate Professor of Chemistry at the City College of the City University of New York, New York (CUNY).
 
In the fall of 2002, George joined the Rensselaer Nanotechnology Center as part of the research faculty and pursued his research interests in the area of soft nanomaterials. Previous research involved bio-based organic/polymer synthesis, supramolecular chemistry, and self-assembled nanostructures His current research includes biobased organic synthesis, self-assembled soft materials (vesicles, liquid crystals, helices, tubes, and gel systems) for functional applications, understanding growth mechanisms of nanostructures and designing new structures and multifunctional nanocomposites.
 
He coauthored Design and Development of Soft Nanomaterials from Biobased Amphiphiles, Unsaturation Effect on Gelation Behavior of Aryl Glycolipids, Aligning a Single-Lipid Nanotube with Moderate Stiffness, Self-Assembling Structures of Long-Chain Phenyl Glucoside Influenced by the Introduction of Double Bonds, Morphological Control of Helical Solid Bilayers in High-Axial-Ratio Nanostructures Through Binary Self-Assembly, Self-assembly of a Sugar-based Gelator in Water: Its Remarkable Diversity in Gelation Ability and Aggregate Structure, and Nanotube Formation from Renewable Resources via Coiled Nanofibers. He holds the patent Hollow fibrous organic nanotube and method for producing the same.
 
George earned his Ph.D. in Chemistry (synthetic polymer chemistry) from the University of Kerala, India in 1993. After a year of post-doctoral research at the University of Twente, The Netherlands, he spent four years as a research scientist at the Agency for Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Japan.
 
Read Nanomaterials made from Apricots and Cashew Nuts Could Replace Petrochemicals.