UMass Amherst

E. Bryan Coughlin

Associate Professor, Dept. of Polymer Science & Engineering
A612 Conte, University of Massachusetts
Amherst, MA 01003-9292
(413) 577-1616
coughlin@mail.pse.umass.edu
http://www.pse.umass.edu/~bcoughlin

Synthesis of Polymer Nanocomposites

Synthesis of novel polymer-inorganic hybrid copolymers, and investigation of their physical and mechanical properties. Copolymerization of molecularly precise nanometer-scale inorganic particles with simple vinyl monomers to develop fundamental understandings necessary to exploit the resulting structure-property correlations. A chemistry-based “bottom-up” approach to the formation of hybrid polymer nanocomposites, harnessing the beneficial thermodynamics associated with self-assembly processes.

Research Interest Potential Application
Inorganic-Organic Hybrid Copolymer Novel Nanocomposites, Functional Nanomaterials
Polymerization Catalysis & Reaction Engineering Production and Scale-up of Nanomaterials
Precision Functionalized Polymers Nanoparticle Stabilization
Fire-Safe Polymers and Polymer Composites Fire-safe materials

Honors and Awards

  • National Science Foundation CAREER Award, 2003
  • DuPont Young Faculty Award, 2003
  • 3M Non-Tenured Faculty Award, 2000
  • OMNOVA Solutions Signature University Faculty Award, 2000

Publications

  1. “Novel Polyolefin Nanocomposites: Synthesis and Characterization of Metallocene Catalyzed Polyolefin Polyhedral Oligomeric Silsesquioxanes (POSS) Copolymers” L. Zheng, R. J. Farris and E. Bryan Coughlin, Macromolecules, 2001, 34, 8034-8039.
  2. "Nanostructured Polyethylene-POSS Copolymers: Control of Crystallization and Aggregation" A. J. Waddon, L. Zeng, R. J. Farris and E. Bryan Coughlin, Nano Letters 2002, 2, 1149-1155.
  3. “Crystal Structure of Polyhedral Oligomeric Silsequioxane (POSS) Nano-materials: A Study by X-ray Diffraction and Electron Microscopy” A. J. Waddon and E. Bryan Coughlin, Chem Mater 2003, 15, 4555-4561.
  4. “Morphological and Mechanical Evaluation of Hybrid Organic-inorganic Thermoset Copolymers of Dicyclopentadiene and Mono- or Tris(norbornenyl)-substituted Polyhedral Oligomeric Silsesquioxanes” G. S. Constable, A. J. Lesser and E. Bryan Coughlin, Macromolecules 2004, 37 1276-1282.
  5. “The Preparation of Cadmium Selenide-Polyolefin Composites from Functional Phosphine Oxides and Ruthenium-based Metathesis” H. Skaff, M. F. Ilker, E. Bryan Coughlin and T. Emrick, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2002, 124, 5729-5733.