TITLE:  Tailoring Block Copolymers with Ionic and Hydrogen Bonding: From Adhesives and Elastomers to Engineering Polymers and 3D Printing
SPEAKER:  Prof. Timothy E. Long, Macromolecules and Interfaces Institute, Department of Chemistry, Virginia Tech, USA
TIME:September 5 (Saturday)AM 10:00
LOCATION:  518 Meeting Room, Chemistry Building A (化学A楼518会议室)
INVITER:  Prof. Xinyuan Zhu (朱新远教授)

 
Abstract:
Ionomers and polyelectrolytes represent families of macromolecules that incorporate cationic or anionic sites either pendant or within the polymer main chain.  These charged compositions enable tunable physical properties such as ionic conductivity, thermal and chemical stability, water transport, and anion exchange capability. Ion-containing polymers are versatile materials that continuously enable emerging technologies such as water purification, gas separation, gene delivery1, biosensors, fuel cells, and electro-mechanical devices.2 Ionic liquids continue to inspire the design of new families of ionomers and polyelectrolytes. 

This lecture will present a library of novel monomer strategies wherein the monomers are tailored with a nitrogen or phosphorous site that is capable of efficient alkylation either using a functional monomer strategy or post-polymerization modification. Living anionic and controlled radical polymerization methods enable the preparation of diverse families of ammonium, imidazolium, and phosphonium containing block copolymers, where the placement of the charged site in a low glass transition temperature sequence provides superior performance. The role of block copolymer morphology is critical in determining both water and ion transport properties. 

The lecture will also highlight an unprecedented step-growth polymerization process leading to a new family of melt processable phosphonium based ionenes whose diversity is further enriched upon anion exchange to finely tune thermomechanical and rheological performance.  The potential impact of novel multiphase polymeric systems on adhesion, electro-active membranes, drug delivery, and 3D printing will be discussed.

Biography:
Timothy E. Long received his B.S. in 1983 from St. Bonaventure University, followed by his Ph.D. in 1987 from Virginia Tech. He spent nearly a decade as a research scientist at Eastman Kodak Company before returning to Virginia Tech as a Professor in the Department of Chemistry. He has over 40 patents in the field of macromolecular science and engineering, published 22 book chapters, and has recently exceeded 225 peer-reviewed publications. He has been a faculty member in the Department of Chemistry since 1999 and serves as the Director of Macromolecules and Interfaces Institute (MII) at Virginia Tech.

He has received many prestigious honors in his field of polymer chemistry recently, including the 2015 Virginia Outstanding Scientist Award, American Chemical Society (ACS) PMSE Cooperative Research Award and ACS POLY Mark Scholars Award, as well as the Pressure Sensitive Tape Council (PSTC) Carl Dahlquist Award in 2011, Virginia Tech’s Alumni Award for Research Excellence (AARE) in 2010, 2009 ACS Fellow, and invited organizer of the Gordon Research Conference – Polymers, and Chair, ACS Polymer Division.

Prof. Long maintains a vigorous partnership with diverse industries, including BASF, Elevance, IBM, 3M, Kimberly Clark, Henkel, Toray, Bayer, Kraton Polymers, SABIC, Exxon Mobil, and Solvay. He has maintained a 20-member interdisciplinary research group and has been awarded ~ $42M in research funding over the past 16 years at Virginia Tech. His group’s continuing research goal is to integrate fundamental research in novel macromolecular structure and polymerization processes with the development of high performance macromolecules for advanced technologies, including drug and gene delivery, sustainable feed stocks, adhesives and elastomers, block copolymers and living polymerization, and biomaterials for health and energy.