Materials Development

We are implementing an informatics approach to accelerate the development of the complex polymer systems. The goal of the work is to predict properties through multistep processing procedures. Our approach focuses on the digitization of the chemical, processing and characterization data and metadata, automation of the data collection and analysis, and the implementation of active learning to develop models to predict the results. Successful implementation will significantly reduce (10x) the development cost and time needed for complex polymer systems.

We have developed the materials and processes necessary to create 3D printable, hierarchically structured epoxy-block copolymer (BCP) blends. In our approach, we leverage a combination of BCP self-assembly with direct ink writing (DIW) to create hierarchical structures. We can control the ternary chemical composition to tune the bottom-up self-assembly of the block copolymers and to use the shear forces from DIW to increase the extent of ordering of the microstructures. Inclusion of the BCPs increase the toughness of epoxy resins as well as providing a template for nanoparticles to impart multifunctionality.

We have valorized the unique molecular characteristics of renewable materials to design and synthesize a wide range of thermo-adaptive soft materials. We focus on fundamental research to understand and precisely control structure and functionalities of these novel materials. We use advanced characterization methods such as in-situ neutron/light/X-ray scattering techniques, together with in-situ thermal, mechanical and rheological analyses to discover the fundamentals of macromolecular interactions, structural relaxation, molecular dynamics, morphology, and phase changes. These advanced materials are used for healthcare applications such as thermo-adaptive flexible human motion sensors.