Many congratulations to Kartik Kumar Rajagopalan for successfully defending his Ph.D. dissertation this Fall!

Dr. Rajagopalan earned his degree based on his dissertation titled “Thermo-responsive polymer salogels for shape stabilization of inorganic salt hydrate phase change materials”.

PhD student Ardak Makhatova’s paper titled “Enhanced performance of polyelectrolyte-stabilized sandy soils under wetting and drying cycles” has been accepted for publication in ASCE’s Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering.

Makhatova, A., Little, D. N., Sukhishvili, S. A., Masad, E. “Enhanced performance of polyelectrolyte-stabilized sandy soils under wetting and drying cycles”. Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering. 10.1061/JMCEE7/MTENG-18871 (accepted).

Congratulations, Ardak!

PhD student Konstantinos Stamatis recently passed his PhD qualifying exam. Congrats, Konstantinos!

Jordan Brito and Junho Moon’s paper titled “Engineering Degradation Rate of Polyphosphazene-Based Layer-by-Layer Polymer Coatings” was recently published in the Journal of Functional Biomaterials.

In this work, we designed layer-by-layer polymer coatings with tunable degradation rates based on the assembly conditions, and we also directly compared the degradation of the polymer in solution, complexes in solution, and layer-by-layer polymer coatings. The open-access article is now available to read online.

Congratulations, Jordan and Junho!

**Update (2/28/2024): This article was selected by the Journal of Functional Biomaterials as the cover article for the February issue!**

**Update (5/8/2024): This article was selected as an Editor’s Choice!**

Jordan Brito, Parin Purvin Shah, and Aliaksei Aliakseyeu’s paper titled “Effect of polyacid architecture and polycation molecular weight on lateral diffusion within multilayer films” was recently published in the Journal of Chemical Physics.

In this work, we investigated the lateral and perpendicular diffusion of linear and star polyacids (i.e., linear and 8-arm PMAA) within layer-by-layer films. The linear and star polyacids were partnered with short, medium, and long molecular weight PDADMAC to also compare the effect of polycation molecular weight on the diffusion of the polyacids. The article is now available to read online.

Congratulations, Jordan, Parin, and Aliaksei!

PhD candidate Kartik won joint 3rd place in the MSEN Materials Expo 2023 poster competition for the poster titled “Diels-Alder Salogels for Shape Stabilization of Inorganic Salt Hydrate Phase Change Materials”. The MSEN Materials Expo 2023 was held in celebration of the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the TAMU MSEN department.

Congratulations, Kartik!

Master’s student Parin Purvin Shah was one of two recipients of the SPE-Henry Kahn Scholarship, sponsored by The Society of Plastic Engineers (SPE). It was awarded during the Polymer Technology Constoria (PTC) in Fall 2023. This scholarship recognizes undergraduate and graduate students in the polymers field who demonstrate excellence both in academics and research.

Congratulations, Parin!