Dr. Rajagopalan wins Best Ph.D. Thesis award

Dr. Kartik Rajagapolan was awarded the 2025 MSEN Best Ph.D. Thesis award for his thesis titled “Thermo-responsive Polymer Salogels for Shape Stabilization of Inorganic Salt Hydrate Phase Change Materials“. This is the second year in a row that our group has won this award!

Congratulations, Kartik!

 

Dr. Rajagapolan (right) holding his Best Ph.D. Thesis Award

Dr. Rajagopalan publishes in Journal of Materials Chemistry A

Dr. Kartik Rajagopalan’s paper titled “Temperature- and Creep-Resistant Diels-Alder Salogels for Shape Stabilization of Salt Hydrate Phase Change Materials” was accepted for publication in the Journal of Materials Chemistry A. This work demonstrates the robustness of Diels-Alder crosslinks to provide creep-free mechanical stabilization of salt hydrate phase change materials with wide-ranging melting temperatures (room temperature to 90°C) for thermal energy storage applications.

Congratulations, Kartik!

Graphical summary of Kartik’s new research article in J. Mater. Chem. A

Moon publishes in Small

Ph.D. student Junho Moon’s paper, “Stereochemical Shape Morphing in Diels-Alder Polymer Networks” has been published in Small. In this paper, the spatial distribution of stereoisomers in Diels-Alder polymer networks is achieved through temperature-resolved annealing. By controlling the annealing time, diverse shape transformations are demonstrated, enabling precise stereochemical morphing.

Congratulations, Junho!

Graphical abstract of Junho’s article