Research

We are interested in the structural evolution of mutating polymer systems: dynamic processes of gelation, vitrification, or even degradation. Our aim is to utilize a combination of characterization techniques to decouple competitive effects in terms of viscoelasticity, structure, and molecular level interactions. Ultimately, decoupling these parameters and length-scale behaviors will lead to system tunability across the materials lifetime.

We develop advanced numerical techniques to efficiently obtain pertinent rheological data of viscoelastic materials undergoing a dynamic process. These enhanced rheological methods should allow us to optimally decouple time and frequency domains in oscillatory shear measurements, which is crucial to understanding the viscoelastic character of rapidly evolving systems.

Nanoparticle composites are traditionally difficult to implement in additive manufacturing due to high viscosity and non-Newtonian behavior of the starting resin. We use in-situ rheological and scattering techniques to characterize time-dependent structure development driven by complex rheological phenomena during UV-assisted printing, aiming to optimize efficiency and tailor formulations for enhanced printability.

Our goal is to implement bioplastic materials into the circular plastics economy. Bioplastics comprise less than 1% of annual production and are not compatible with current recycling technologies. We use advanced rheological techniques to investigate efficient and effective degradation pathways in bioplastic formulations containing industrially relevant additives.