Center for Nanotechnology and Nanotoxicology

Zeynep Aytac

Title and Affiliation

Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
Environmental Health
Center for Nanotechnology and Nanotoxicology

Contact Info

Phone:617-432-2610
Email: zaytac@hsph.harvard.edu
Office: SPH1-1303

Short Bio

Zeynep is currently a postdoctoral research fellow at the Center for Nanotechnology and Nanotoxicology. She has joined Dr. Philip Demokritou’s group in March 2019 to develop antimicrobial agent loaded electrospun nanofibers from nature-derived polymers for food packaging applications.

She has completed her undergraduate studies in Textile Engineering at Ege University (Turkey). Then, she obtained her MSc and PhD degrees in Material Science and Nanotechnology from Bilkent University (Turkey) where she worked on controlled release of small molecules including drugs, antioxidant and antibacterial agents, flavor/fragrances by incorporation of cyclodextrin-inclusion complexes into electrospun polymeric or non-polymeric nanofibers. She worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Michigan to design 3D printed materials for bone regeneration applications before joining Dr. Philip Demokritou’s group.

Research Interests

  • Electrospinning of nanofibers from natural polymers
  • Producing core-shell nanofibers via coaxial electrospinning
  • Functionalization of electrospun nanofibers with several types of additives
  • Designing nanomaterials for food packaging applications
  • Developing smart release systems for various applications

Selected Publications

1)      Aytac Z., Ipek S., Erol, I., Durgun E., & Uyar T. (2019). Fast-dissolving electrospun gelatin nanofibers encapsulating ciprofloxacin/cyclodextrin inclusion complex Colloids and Surfaces B: Biointerfaces, 178 (2019), 129-136.
2)      Altan, A., Aytac, Z., & Uyar, T. (2018). Carvacrol loaded electrospun fibrous films from zein and poly (lactic acid) for active food packaging. Food Hydrocolloids, 81, 48-59.
3)      Aytac, Z., Ipek S., Durgun E., Tekinay T., & Uyar, T. (2017). Antibacterial electrospun zein nanofibrous web encapsulating thymol/cyclodextrin-inclusion complex for food packaging. Food Chemistry, 233, 117-124.
4)      Aytac, Z., & Uyar, T. (2017). Core-shell nanofibers of curcumin/cyclodextrin inclusion complex and polylactic acid: Enhanced water solubility and slow release of curcumin. International Journal of Pharmaceutics, 518(1), 177-184.
5)      Arslan, O., Aytac, Z., & Uyar, T. (2016). Superhydrophobic, Hybrid, Electrospun Cellulose Acetate Nanofibrous Mats for Oil/Water Separation by Tailored Surface Modification. ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, 8 (30), 19747-19754.
6)      Aytac, Z., Yildiz, Z. I., Kayaci-Senirmak, F., San Keskin, N. O., Tekinay, T., & Uyar, T. (2016). Electrospinning of polymer-free cyclodextrin/geraniol–inclusion complex nanofibers: enhanced shelf-life of geraniol with antibacterial and antioxidant properties. RSC Advances, 6(52), 46089-46099.
7)      Aytac, Z., Kusku, S. I., Durgun, E., & Uyar, T. (2016). Quercetin/β-cyclodextrin inclusion complex embedded nanofibres: Slow release and high solubility. Food Chemistry, 197, 864-871.
8)      Senthamizhan, A., Balusamy, B., Aytac, Z., & Uyar, T. (2016). Ultrasensitive electrospun fluorescent nanofibrous membrane for rapid visual colorimetric detection of H2O2. Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry, 408(5), 1347-1355.
9)      Demirci, S., Celebioglu, A., Aytac, Z., & Uyar, T. (2014). pH-responsive nanofibers with controlled drug release properties. Polymer Chemistry, 5(6), 2050-2056.
10)  Kayaci, F., Aytac, Z., & Uyar, T. (2013). Surface modification of electrospun polyester nanofibers with cyclodextrin polymer for the removal of phenanthrene from aqueous solution. Journal of Hazardous Materials, 261, 286-294.