[CCoE Notice] ChBE Dept. Seminar: Generating Functional Materials from Nanostructured Polymers

[Grayson, Audrey A]

ChBE Dept. Seminar
10:30am-11:30am, Friday, January 31, 2014
Rm W122
Generating Functional Materials from Nanostructured Polymers
Thomas H Epps, III
University of Delaware

ABSTRACT: The nanoscale self-assembly of block copolymers (BCP)s can facilitate materials design for many emerging nanotechnologies.  In the Epps group, we utilize an assortment of techniques to understand and control the self-assembly of BCPs, including synthetic or non-synthetic manipulations to inter-block interactions and modifications to the copolymer's external environment (solvents and interfaces).  Two areas of recent research in the group involve: (1) manipulating inter-block interactions independent of block chemistry and molecular weight, while retaining complex nanoscale structures, and (2) controlling thin film morphologies and orientations through substrate surface and solvent vapor (free surface) annealing methods.  In the first area, we employ synthetic modifications to the tradition BCP architecture to control the ordering transitions and phase behavior in tapered diblock and triblock copolymers.  Thus, we can generate and tune nanoscale networks for applications ranging from analytical separation membranes to ion-conducting materials.  In the second area, we use solvent vapor annealing (SVA) and small-molecule chemistry on silicon substrates to manipulate BCP interactions with free and substrate surfaces.  As one example of recent efforts, we developed a raster solvent vapor annealing (RSVA) method that provides "stylus-like" SVA writing capability, which enables positional control over nanoscale BCP orientations in thin film geometries.

BIO: Prof. Epps is the Thomas and Kipp Gutshall Associate Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the University of Delaware (UD) with a joint appointment in Materials Science and Engineering. He received his B.S. degree in Chemical Engineering from MIT in 1998 and an M.S. degree in Chemical Engineering from MIT in 1999.  He completed his graduate research at the University of Minnesota and received a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering in 2004; he then joined NIST as a National Research Council Postdoctoral Fellow.  Dr. Epps joined UD in the summer of 2006.

His research interests include nanostructured assemblies for targeted drug delivery, polymeric materials for bio-separation and ion-conduction membranes, nanostructured soft materials for catalytic applications, and surface responsive polymer films.  At UD, he is a member of the Center for Neutron Science, Center for Molecular and Engineering Thermodynamics, and the Biomedical Engineering Program.

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