Welcome to Advanced Polymeric Materials Laboratory
Polymeric materials provide integral structures in advanced technologies such as organic photovoltaics, nano-patterned devices, and smart pharmaceuticals. The unique physical properties of polymers arise from the structures of macromolecules and are remarkably enhanced by the confinement and interfacial effects which perturb glass transition dynamics in a length scale up to hundreds of nanometers. We attempt to understand the thermodynamics and viscoelastic properties of nanoscopically confined polymers and to apply this understanding to the intelligent design of nanostructured polymeric materials with novel and intriguing properties for engineering applications in optics, energy, and other emerging technologies.