Frank Karasz

Professor Emeritus
Frank Karasz
Contact
Email
Email
Phone
Location
Department of Polymer Science and Engineering
Room: A428 , Conte Research Center
University of Massachusetts Amherst
120 Governors Drive
Amherst, MA 01003

Current Research

Present research activities are focused on opto-electronic properties of modified conjugated polymers. A general objective is to maximize quantum yields of photon emission in these systems. One route has been to design macromolecules with alternating chromophoric and non-chromophoric sequences; another has been to use blends of appropriate morphology to enhance excitonic energy transfer. Other areas of interest include membrane modification by ion implantation to increase permselectivity; conformation of solvated chains below the θ-point (coil-globule transitions) and the effect of chain architecture on miscibility in multi-component systems.

Research Interests

Polymer physics and chemistry (a) Polymer-polymer interactions in binary amorphous and amorphous-crystalline systems: effects of copolymerization and microstructure (b) Quasi-elastic light scattering from macromolecular solutions (c) Electronic and optical properties of polymers

Honors and Distinctions

  • Member, National Academy of Engineering, 1991-
  • President, Scientific Council, IRTEMP, Naples, 1995-2002
  • Corresponding Member, Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts, 1997-
  • Member, Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts, 2000-
  • Foreign Fellow, Indian National Academy of Engineering, 1999-
  • Member, USRA Microgravity Science and Applications Science Council, 1999-
  • Member, National Research Council, National Materials Advisory Board, 2001-
  • Mettler Award in Thermal Analysis
  • Education Service Award (Plastics Institute of America)
  • High Polymer Physics Prize (Ford Prize), American Physical Society
  • Society of Plastics Engineers Research Award
  • Chevalier (Knight) of the Order of St. John (Knights of Malta)
  • Herman F. Mark Medal of the Austrian Institute for Chemical Research
  • Fellow, Polymer Materials Science and Engineering Division, American Chemical Society
  • Foreign Fellow of the Indian Materials Research Society
  • Honorary Medal, Slovak Academy of Sciences