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POLYMERS & MATERIALS RESEARCH

General
Associated Center
Associated Faculty

Selected Research Profiles

• Can plastics be reincarnated in cheap new applications?
• Polymers offer versatile applications. . .
  
  Property-structure relationships in polymers - chains of chemical units - are the subject of research by Dr. Robert Weiss, who seeks to understand the complex structures of polymers, such as ionomers, conductive polymers, block co-polymers, and liquid crystalline polymers. These materials have uses as biomaterials, fuel cell membranes, chemical sensors, and high-performance plastics. Some work involves copolymerization of a fluoroacrylate with water-soluble or water-swellable alkyl acrylamides, a process that produces copolymers that do not dissolve in water. These materials can be used as hydrogels in a variety of applications, such as biomimetics and drug delivery. Dr. Weiss's work also includes studies of electrically conductive materials, including inherently conductive polymers, such as polypyrrole. An in situ polymerization of pyrrole may be accomplished by incorporating a suitable oxidant into a polymer host. This strategy has been used to prepare electrically conductive polymer surfaces and foams for applications such as chemical sensors. Another research thrust involves development of new polymer electrolyte membranes for proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell applications.