Notre Dame’s third annual symposium on soft materials research was expanded this year to a two-university event. On October 8, nearly 70 faculty, postdoc and student researchers attended the first Notre Dame-Purdue Symposium on Soft Matter & Polymers at Notre Dame’s Eck Visitors Center.
“The symposium functions as a platform to share research between schools in Indiana, to network between research groups, and to seek opportunities for collaboration,” said event co-organizer Haifeng Gao, Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry at Notre Dame. “We plan to include other nearby research universities in future events, such as the next one at Purdue University,” said event co-organizer Jianguo Mei, Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemistry at Purdue University.
The research presented by faculty during the morning and afternoon technical sessions covered polymer synthesis and characterization, and their application in various fields -- including batteries, solar cells, sensors, and membrane separation.
In addition to the Notre Dame and Purdue presenters, Vivek Sharma, Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Illinois-Chicago, gave an invited talk on “Pinch-off dynamics, dripping-onto-substrate rheometry and printability of complex fluids.”
More than 30 students and postdocs shared their research in an afternoon poster session, with “best poster” awards given to:
Haifeng Gao, Manish Nepal, Robert Graff, Shuangjiang Luo, Yi Shi, Siyi Qu, Vani Singhania, Jianguo Mei.
Manish Nepal, Purdue
Title: “Accessing three-dimensional crystals with incorporated guests through metal-directed coiled-coil peptide assembly”
Robert Graff, Notre Dame
Title: “Regulating the synthesis of nanostructured polymers by atom transfer radical polymerization in microemulsion”
Shuangjiang Luo, Notre Dame
Title: “Preparation and gas transport properties of triptycene-containing polybenzoxazole (PBO)-based polymers derived from thermal rearrangement (TR) and thermal cyclodehydration (TC) processes”
Yi Shi, Notre Dame
Title: “Chain-growth click polymerization of AB2 monomers to produce hyperbranched polymer with low polydispersity in one-pot process”
Siyi Qu, Notre Dame
Title: “Patterned copolymer nanofilters with bio-inspired domains for enhanced ion transport”
Vani Singhania, Purdue
Title: “Influence of molecular weights on charge transport properties in complementary semiconducting polymer blends”
Event sponsors included Notre Dame’s College of Science, College of Engineering, Department of Chemistry/Biochemistry, Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering, and the Center for Notre Dame Center for Nano Science & Technology; as well as Purdue’s College of Science, Birck Nanotechnology Center, J&K Scientific, and Furcifer, Inc.
A complete roster of symposium presentations and posters follows:
Technical presentations
Merlin Bruening, Notre Dame
Merlin Bruening, Notre Dame
“Functionalizing membranes through formation of polyelectrolyte multilayers and polymer brushes”
Bryan Boudouris, Purdue
“Manipulating the solid-state charge transport of radical polymer glasses”
Matthew J. Webber, Notre Dame
“Therapeutic materials through supramolecular design”
Alexander Wei, Purdue
“New additive manufacturing processes for polymer substrates”
Vivek Sharma, Univ. of Illinois Chicago
“Pinch-off dynamics, dripping-onto-substrate rheometry and printability of complex fluids”
Jennifer L. Schaefer, Notre Dame
“Solvent-free single-ion conducting polymer electrolytes”
Grigori Medvedev, Purdue
Grigori Medvedev, Purdue
“Recent advances in understanding the glassy state”
Haifeng Gao, Notre Dame
“Robust synthesis of dendritic polymers with well-defined nanostructures”
David H. Thompson, Purdue
“Development of self-assembling cyclodextrin polymers for biological applications”
Posters
Manish Nepal, Michael J. Sheedlo, Chittaranjan Das, and Jean Chmielewski
“Accessing three-dimensional crystals with incorporated guests through metal-directed coiled-coil peptide assembly”
Feng Gao, Peng Gao, Aaron Hunter, Sherwood Benavides, and William Phillip
“Inkjet printing of layer-by-layer assembled charge mosaic membrane”
Monessha Nambiar and Jean Chmielewski
“Higher-order assembly of coiled-coil trimers into banded microstructures”
More than 30 students and postdocs participated in the poster session
Xiaofeng Wang, Yi Shi, Robert W. Graff, Xiaosong Cao, and Haifeng Gao
“Synthesis of hyperbranched polymers with high molecular weight in the RAFT homopolymerization of polymerizable transfer agent without thermal initiator”
Jae Jin Bang, Kortney K. Rupp, Shane R. Russell, Shi Wah Choong, Tyson C. Davis, Tyler R. Hayes, Jacob T. Brooks, and Shelley A. Claridge
“Sitting phases of polymerizable amphiphiles provide tunable orthogonal surface chemistry via non-covalent functionalization for layered materials”
Peng Gao and William Phillip
“Inkjet printing of polymeric membranes”
Aristide Gumyusenge, Xikang Zhao, Yan Zhao, Tianbai Xu, and Jianguo Mei
“Controlled tailoring of self-assembled nanowires in isoindigo-based complementary semiconducting polymer blends for high-performance OFETs”
Shirui Luo, Jarrod Schiffbauer, and Tengfei Luo
“Effect of electric field non-uniformity on droplets coalescence”
Shane Russell, Terry Villarreal, and Shelley Claridge
“PM-IRRAS investigations of polymerizable amphiphile orientation at interfaces with layered materials for applications in molecular electronics and biochemistry”
Yi Shi, Xiaosong Cao, Robert W. Graff, Xiaofeng Wang, and Haifeng Gao
“Chain-growth click polymerization of AB2 monomers to produce hyperbranched polymer with low polydispersity in one-pot process”
Xikang Zhao, Yan Zhao, Guobiao Xue, Vani Singhania, and Jianguo Mei
“Complementary semiconducting polymer blends: The influence of conjugation break spacers”
Poster discussion with invited speaker Vivek Sharma
Qinnan Zhang and Ruilan Guo
“Triptycene containing polyimide/ZIF-90 mixed matrix membranes for gas separation”
Nick J. Sortedahl, Edwin J. A. Rodriguez, Pei-Hsun Wei, David A. Egas, Yimin Hua, and Mary J. Wirth
“Silica coated ferrimagnetic nanoparticles in trace glycoprotein recovery for LC-MS”
Robert Graff, Xiaofeng Wang, Yi Shi, and Haifeng Gao
“Regulating the synthesis of nanostructured polymers by atom transfer radical polymerization in microemulsion”
Jessica L. Sargent, Ryan A. Mulvenna, Jacob L. Weidman, Yizhou Zhang, William A. Phillip, and Bryan W. Boudouris
“Optimization and characterization of self-assembled triblock polymer membranes with chemically tunable pore walls for nanofiltration applications”
Jacob L. Weidman, Ryan A. Mulvenna, Bryan W. Boudouris, William A. Phillip
“Nanoporous block polymer thin films functionalized with bio-inspired ligands for the efficient capture of heavy metal ions from water”
Haijun Niu
“Electrochromic polyschiff base polymers containing triarylamine: Synthesis, electrochemical and acidochromic properties”
Weiping Gan, Yi Shi, Benxin Jing, Xiaosong Cao, Xiaofeng Wang, Lei Zou, and Haifeng Gao
“Synthesis molecular brushes with ultrahigh grafting density using accelerated CuAAC coupling-onto strategy”
Yan Zhao, Xikang Zhao, Michael Roders, Aristide Gumyusenge, Alexander L. Ayzner, and Jianguo Mei
“Melt-processing complementary semiconducting polymer blends for organic transistors”
Yunsong Pang, Junlong Yang, Shirui Luo, and Tengfei Luo
“The processing for highly aligned graphene/polymer nanocomposite ultrathin sheet through continuous fabrication system”
Liyan You, Saadia Chaudhry, and Jianguo Mei
“Direct arylation polymerization of asymmetric push-pull aryl halides”
Yizhou Zhang, Bryan W. Boudouris, and William A. Phillip
“Nanomanufacturing self-assembled block polymer nanofiltration membranes”
Xiaosong Cao (above) and Shi Wah Choong (below) explain their posters to judges Ruilan Guo and Bryan Boudouris
Mo Li, Hua Zuo, and Chengde Mao
“One-component DNA nanostructures assembled through bubble-bubble cohesion”
Gregory Kline, Jennifer Weidman, Qinnan Zhang, and Ruilan Guo
“Semi-interpenetrating polymer networks (SIPNs) for synergistically attractive CO2 separation performance and improved membrane robustness”
Vani Singhania, Xikang Zhao, Yan Zhao, and Jianguo Mei
“Influence of molecular weights on charge transport properties in complementary semiconducting polymer blends”
Siyi Qu and William Phillip
“Patterned copolymer nanofilters with bio-inspired domains for enhanced ion transport”
Ashlin Porter, Jae Jin Bang, Shane Russell, and Shelley Claridge
“Designing head group architectures to control wetting morphology in conductive soft material films”
Jarrod Schiffbauer and Tengfei Luo
“Non-equilibrium liquid phase stabilization at nanoscale-curved solid-liquid interfaces: theory and applications”
Tyson C. Davis and Shelley Claridge
“Directed self-assembly of block copolymers using polymerizable sitting-phase amphiphiles”
Shant Mahserejian, Ava Mauro, Erin Jonasson, Chulei Li, Mark Alber, and Holly Goodson
“Studying microtubule dynamic instability using a two-protofilament model”
Yuichiro Watanabe, Hisahiro Sasabe, Teruo Beppu, Hiroshi Katagiri, Daisuke Yokoyama, and Junji Kido
“Highly orientated electron-transport materials using weak hydrogen bonds for organic light-emitting devices”
Xiaosong Cao, Yi Shi, Weiping Gan, Hannah Naguib, Xiaofeng Wang, Robert W. Graff, and Haifeng Gao
“Effect of monomer structure on the CuAAC polymerization to produce hyperbranched polymers”
Miran Mavlan, Thora Maltais, and Alexander Wei
“Cellulose nanomaterials: Chemo-mechanical surface modifications and chemical composition analysis”
Joseph Aboki and Ruilan Guo
“Triptycene-based sulfonated poly(arylene ether sulfone) multiblock copolymers for proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs)”
Natalie A. Hamada and Jonathan J. Wilker
“Understanding nature’s use of iron cross-linkers in underwater adhesion to improve synthetic bioadhesives”
Shuangjiang Luo and Ruilan Guo
“Preparation and gas transport properties of triptycene-containing polybenzoxazole (PBO)-based polymers derived from thermal rearrangement (TR) and thermal cyclodehydration (TC) processes”
Shi Wah Choong, Shane Russell, Jeremiah Bechtold, and Shelley Claridge
“Anisotropic wettability at the nanoscale: A bioinspired strategy for controlling nanoscopic thin film structure”
