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IRG 3: Soft Cellular Materials |
"Soft Cellular Materials", such as closed-cell polymer foams and high internal phase emulsions,
are a versatile class of materials that are familiar in a wide variety of applications
including barrier coatings, insulators, structural materials, super-absorbents, lotions
and creams, processed foods, and advanced tissue scaffolds.
The recent availability of many new types of polymeric surfactants (e.g. block and graft copolymers)
and functional nanoparticles creates exciting opportunities for novel structures, properties,
and functions within this important class of materials. IRG-3 seeks to understand the
interactions of surface-modified nanoparticles and new interfacially-active copolymers with polymeric
interfaces and thin films, both in and out of equilibrium, and to apply this understanding to
the development of innovative polymer-based, cellular materials.
The soft cellular materials relevant to our research include:
Closed-cell polymer foams
High internal phase polymeric emulsions (poly-HIPE)
Fluid precursors to the above
Compositions containing tunable nanoparticles and structured colloids
IRG MEMBERS:
| Glenn Fredrickson (Co-leader) |
Chemical Engineering and Materials |
Mesoscopic & polymer theory |
| Gary Leal (Co-leader) |
Chemical Engineering and Materials |
Fluids experiment & theory |
| Craig Hawker |
Materials and Chemistry & Biochemistry |
Polymer & particle synthesis |
| Bud Homsy |
Mechanical Engineering and Chemical Engineering |
Fluids & stability theory |
| Jacob Israelachvili |
Chemical Engineering and Materials and BMSE |
Interfacial & surface force analysis |
| Ed Kramer |
Materials and Chemical Engineering |
Interfacial analysis, polymer physics |
| Jim Langer |
Physics and Materials |
Condensed matter theory, plasticity |
| Todd Squires |
Chemical Engineering |
Fluid physics, colloid microfluidics |
IRG AFFILIATE:
| Dave Pine |
NYU, Physics |
Complex fluids & colloid physics |
TEM of 4nm Au nanoparticles localized (a) at the interface; and (b) in the PS domain of a PS-PVP diblock copolymer (PVP stained with I2).
