The innovation engine for new materials

IRG 3: Resilient Multiphase Soft Materials

Developing resilient soft materials optimized for load-bearing and toughness is a long-standing challenge which, if solved, could enable the design of advanced resins, fabrics, packages, separation technologies, and tissue replacements. Inspired by the graded and hierarchical s tructures of natural marine materials, this IRG aims to (i) develop new strategies for materials processing that integrate precise, discrete polymer chemistries with non-equilibrium processing methods to achieve controlled multi•phase and interfacial structure, (ii) understand the interactions and mechanics of internal interfaces in these materials, and (iii) establish the multiscale structure-property relationships to provide the foundational design rules for creating new classes of versatile, multi phase soft materials.
 
IRG-3:  Weekly on Thursdays at 1:00pm.  Contact Megan Valentine for Zoom information during the COVID pandemic.
 

IRG MEMBERS:

Megan Valentine (Co-Leader) Mechanical Eng.
Matthew Helgeson (Co-Leader) Chemical Eng.
Brad Chmelka Chemical Eng.
Glenn Fredrickson Chemical Eng. / Materials
Craig Hawker Chemistry, Materials
Robert McMeeking Mechanical Eng. / Materials
Angela Pitenis Materials
Joan-Emma Shea Chemistry / Physics
J. Herbert Waite MCDB / Chemistry / BMSE

IRG AFFILIATES:

Chris Bates Materials
Jamie Booth California State University, Northridge
Noy Cohen Technion, Israel
Claus Eisenbach University of Stuttgart, Germany
Javier Read de Alaniz Chemistry