We are thrilled to announce that Dr. Laurel Kroo will be joining the Deprtment of Polymer Science & Engineering as our newest Assistant Professor in 2025. Dr. Kroo will be launching a research group that specializes in the design and programming of micro-structured fluids, to tackle global challenges in sustainability, heath and manufacturing.
Research by Hao Wan,* Geunwoong Jeon, Weiyue Xin, Gregory M. Grason* & Maria M. Santore* was recently published in Nature Communications. In this article researchers present a new mechanism to scalably control the morphology of 2D crystals, growing them in the fluid membranes of vesicles to produce crystals with greater protrusions on larger vesicles. Previous curvature-related mechanisms for morphology control exhibited the opposite dependence on template size.
Research by Brandon R. Clarke*, Connor L. Witt*, Mark Ilton, Alfred J. Crosby*, James J. Watkins* and Gregory N. Tew* was recently published in Angewandte Chemie International Edition. Bottlebrush networks (BBNs) are an exciting new class of materials with interesting physical properties derived from their unique architecture. While great strides have been made in our fundamental understanding of bottlebrush polymers and networks, an interdisciplinary approach is necessary for the field to accelerate advancements. This perspective aims to act as a primer to BBN chemistry and physics for both
Zichen Jin, Hong-Gyu Seong, Satyam Srivastava, Alex McGlasson, Todd Emrick, Murugappan Muthukumar, Thomas P. Russell recently published in the Angewandte Chemie International Edition. This paper entitled, 3D Printing of Aqueous Two-Phase Systems with Linear and Bottlebrush Polyelectrolytes explains how a new polyelectrolyte complex, comprising anionic bottlebrush polymer and cationic linear polymer, exhibits a broader phase separation diagram and higher salt resistance capacity and varies from spherical-like to core-shell-like conformation. Utilizing this system creates a tubular-like flow
Todd Emrick was selected for a Samuel F. Conte Faculty Fellowship Award for 2024-2025. Fellowships are managed by the office of the Vice Chancellor for Research and Engagement (VCRE) and provide a one-year release from teaching and service duties in addition to a $3,500 cash award. Conti Fellows are chosen based on their record of outstanding accomplishments in research and creative activity and on their potential for continued excellence, particularly regarding the project that would be undertaken during the Fellowship period and as proposed in their nomination materials. Congrats Todd!
Research by Carlos Duque, Doug Hall*, Botond Tyukody and Greg Grason* was recently published in PNAS and demonstrates economical assembly of size-tailored, triply-periodic minimal surfaces via "inverted" Caspar-Klug design principles. This work is entitled, Limits of economy and fidelity for programmable assembly of size-controlled triply periodic polyhedra.
As first suggested by Caspar and Klug, many viruses assemble icosahedral shells (capsids) because the high symmetry of the icosahedron enables economical assembly—enclosing a large volume with relatively few distinct protein subunit
The Polymer Process Society (PPS) Executive Committee has elected PSE Alumnus and Adjunct faculty member Ashok Misra '74 to the class of 2024 PPS Fellows. Ashok will be recognized at the 39th International Conference of the Polymer Processing Society (PPS39), Cartagena, Colombia. The recognition ceremony will be held at the award banquet scheduled on Wednesday, May 22, 2024. The PPS is grateful for Ashok's "patronage and leadership in the growth of PPS in conjunction with [his] first-class scientific work in polymer processing."
Research by Kaikai Zheng*, Shankar Ghosh* and Steve Granick* was recently published in PNAS. Studying translucent materials, researchers discover an additional energy transfer path - internal radiation, which presents exceptions of Fourier's law at the macroscale.
Dipankar Saha*, Hsin-Jung Yu*, Jiacheng Wang, Prateek*, Xiaobo Chen, Chaoyun Tang, Claire Senger*, James Nicolas Pagaduan*, Reika Katsumata*, Kenneth R. Carter*, Guangwen Zhou, Peng Bai, Nianqiang Wu, and James J. Watkins* just published in ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces. The paper is entitled, "Mesoporous Single Atom-Cluster Fe–N/C Oxygen Evolution Electrocatalysts Synthesized with Bottlebrush Block Copolymer-Templated Rapid Thermal Annealing". Unveiling a game-changer: mesoporous single atom-cluster Fe-N/C oxygen evolution electrocatalysts, crafted through innovative bottlebrush block
