Rajagopalan selected as 2022 Eastman Chemical Award finalist

Kartik Kumar Rajagopalan was one of six finalists selected for the 2022 Eastman Chemical Student Award! He will be giving an oral presentation at ACS Fall 2022 in the Eastman Chemical Student Award symposium over his submitted paper, entitled “Infrared Spectroscopy Study of Polymer Gelation Mechanism in Inorganic Salt Hydrates”.

The award is sponsored by Eastman Chemical Company, and the competition is organized by the PMSE division of ACS. The purpose of this award is to “recognize research excellence by a graduate student in applied polymer science”.
Congratulations, Kartik!

Brito and Rajagopalan present at ACS Spring 2022

PhD students Jordan Brito and Kartik Kumar Rajagopalan presented their work at ACS Spring 2022 virtually and in San Diego, CA.

Prof. Sukhishvili and Jordan presented in the “Polyphosphazenes in Biomedicine, Engineering and Pioneering Synthesis” symposium. Prof. Sukhishvili presented “Polyphosphazenes in layer-by-layer coatings“, and Jordan presented “Highly hydrophobic, pH-responsive, nanostructured layer-by-layer coatings from anionic fluorinated polyphosphazenes“.

Jordan Brito presented virtually at ACS Spring 2022

Kartik presided over the session “General Papers/New Concepts in Polymeric Materials”. He also presented his work entitled, “Thermo-responsive salogels with dynamic covalent bonds for shape stabilization of an inorganic phase change material“.

Kartik Kumar Rajagopalan presided over a session at ACS Spring 2022

Aliakseyeu, Sang, and Zhou present at APS March 2022

PhD students Aliaksei Aliakseyeu, Zhen Sang, and Qing Zhou represented the Sukhishvili Group at APS March 2022 virtually and in Chicago, IL.

On Mar. 14, Aliaksei gave an oral presentation on “Dynamics of Star Polyelectrolytes in Multilayer Assemblies“.

On Mar. 16, Zhen and Aliaksei gave poster presentations, and Zhen also gave an oral presentation. Aliaksei’s poster was titled, “Upper Critical Solution Temperature Behavior of Linear and Star Polymers“. Zhen’s poster presentation was on “Joule-heating-induced Multi-stage Reconfiguration in Dynamic Polymer Nanocomposites with Low Percolation Threshold“, while his oral presentation was on “Dynamic Covalent Polymer Networks under Supersonic Micro-Projectile Impact” (see below).

Zhen Sang presented “Dynamic Covalent Polymer Networks under Supersonic Micro-Projectile Impact” at APS March 2022

Finally, on Mar. 18, Qing presented “Spatiotemporally Controlled Shape Reconfiguration in Diels-Alder Polymer Networks through Selective Dissociation of Crosslinks” (see below).

Qing Zhou presented “Spatiotemporally Controlled Shape Reconfiguration in Diels-Alder Polymer Networks through Selective Dissociation of Crosslinks” at APS March 2022

Research by Brito & collaborators selected as ACS Editors’ Choice

Jordan Brito’s research with collaborators at University of Maryland was recently accepted to ACS Applied Bio Materials and selected as an ACS Editors’ Choice!

The paper was selected for this honor because of its potential for broad public interest. As part of the ACS Editors’ Choice program, it will be freely accessible for six months.

The article, titled “Cationic Fluoropolyphosphazenes: Synthesis and Assembly with Heparin as a Pathway to Hemocompatible Nanocoatings”, is now available to read online.

Well done, Jordan & collaborators!

Aliakseyeu, Al Husseini, and Brito present at SERMACS 2021

Our group had an eventful trip to SERMACS 2021 in Birmingham, AL. Prof. Sukhishvili and PhD students Aliaksei Aliakseyeu, Diana Al Husseini, and Jordan Brito gave talks about the group’s research.

Prof. Sukhishvili presenting “Polymer Salogels for Shape Stabilization of Inorganic Phase Change Materials”

In the “Polymer Chemistry” session on Nov. 10, Aliaksei presented his work on “Upper Critical Solution Temperature Behavior of Linear and Star Polymers“.

Aliaksei Aliakseyeu presenting “Upper Critical Solution Temperature Behavior of Linear and Star Polymers”

During the “Polymer Assemblies: from Fundamental to Applications” sessions on Nov. 11, Prof. Sukhishvili presented “Polymer Salogels for Shape Stabilization of Inorganic Phase Change Materials“, Jordan presented “All-aqueous Assembly of Highly Hydrophobic, pH-responsive Polyelectrolyte Multilayers“, and Aliaksei presented “Star Polyelectrolytes in Multilayer Assemblies“.

Jordan Brito presenting “All-aqueous Assembly of Highly Hydrophobic, pH-responsive Polyelectrolyte Multilayers”

Finally, on Nov. 12, Jordan presented a poster titled “Non-releasing, enzymatic layer-by-layer coatings with antibacterial activity” and Diana presented “Surface Functionalization for Mid-infrared On-chip Gas Sensing” during the “Optoelectronic Materials” session.

Diana Al Husseini presenting “Surface Functionalization for Mid-infrared On-chip Gas Sensing”

 

Jordan Brito presenting “Non-releasing, Enzymatic Layer-by-Layer Coatings with Antibacterial Activity”

 

Perspective published in Journal of Materials Chemistry A!

Kartik, Parvin, and Xiuzhu wrote a perspective that was recently published in Journal of Materials Chemistry A!

The article, titled “Polymers in Molten Inorganic Salt Hydrates Phase Change Materials: Solubility and Gelation“, provides a unique perspective on the role of molten inorganic salt hydrates as polymer solvents. It also highlights the application of polymer gels formed in these materials as shape stabilizing matrices for thermal energy storage. It is now available to read online.

Congratulations to the team!

Review article published in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces!

Jordan Brito, Hanna Hlushko, Ashleigh Abbott, Aliaksei Aliakseyeu, and Raman Hlushko wrote a review article that was recently published in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces!

The article, titled “Integrating Antioxidant Functionality into Polymer Materials: Fundamentals, Strategies, and Applications“, aims to follow a materials engineer’s approach to designing effective antioxidant polymer materials with specific discussion of applications in biomedical engineering and food packaging. It is now available to read online.

Congratulations to the team!

Graphic overview of the published review article