Fundamental material interrelationships between structure, property, and function of natural and synthetic polymers, ionomers, hybrid organic-inorganic materials, and sol-gel glasses.
Material synthesis (polymer, ionomer, and sol-gel glass), polymer composites, and blends.
Physical properties (SAXS, WAXS, SANS, light-scattering, Raman, DSC, TGA, DMTA, DETA, FTIR, NMR, Impedance, cycle voltammetry), stress/strain/creep, viscoelasticity, and physical aging characterization via TTS (time-temperature-superposition).
Hydrogel properties, structure, and swelling thermodynamics.
Transport of molecule, ion, and electrons in complex structures and interfaces.
Gas, liquid, vapor, ion, molecule, and electron transport relationships based upon on polymer, ionomer, molecular motions, structure, composition, and order.
Water desalination via reverse-osmosis (RO) and electro-dialysis (ED).
Electrochemical devices utilizing ionomers that selectively transport proton and hydroxide ions: hydrogen and methanol fuel cells, and water electrolysis for hydrogen production.
Energy storage via capacitors and batteries utilizing polymers, ionomers, and composite films.
Design of polymer and ionomer gels for selective molecule transport for drug delivery.
Structured and functional surfaces and materials.
Wetting fundamentals and relationships to composition and surface structure.
Super hydrophobic surfaces and relationships to structure and composition.
Bio-fouling resistant surfaces via ion charge density and composition.
Chemical and biological detection via polymers with UV fluorescent groups.
