ChEMS Seminar: Directed Deposition of Functional Polymers onto Structured Materials and Liquid Surfaces

Professor Malancha Gupta, Ph.D.

Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science

University of Southern California

This talk will present the mechanism, kinetics and potential applications associated with the vapor phase deposition of functional polymers onto structured materials and liquid surfaces. Vapor phase deposition eliminates the need for organic solvents and thereby offers a safer and cleaner alternative to liquid phase polymer processing. Gupta will demonstrate her ability to pattern functional polymers onto structured materials such as microfluidic devices and biomedical implants. She will also present recent work demonstrating deposition onto liquids with negligible vapor pressures such as ionic liquids (ILs) and silicone oils. The polymer morphology at the liquid/vapor interface is controlled by the surface tension interaction between the polymer and the liquid. Her ability to controllably tailor the polymer morphology at the interface allows for the design of ultrathin free-standing polymer films, micron-scaled particles, and core-shell particles. Polymerization can also occur within the liquid layer allowing for the fabrication of polymer/IL composite films. The final portion of her talk will discuss deposition onto low-temperature substrates. Lowering the temperature of the substrate below the freezing point of the monomer leads to the formation of macroporous polymer membranes. These membranes can be deposited onto porous substrates to create hierarchical porous-on-porous structures that enable improved filtration for water purification and sensor applications.

Bio:  Malancha Gupta is the Jack Munushian Early Career Chair and assistant professor in the Mork Family Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science at the University of Southern California. She received her bachelor of science in chemical engineering from the Cooper Union in 2002. She received her doctorate in chemical engineering from MIT in 2007 under the guidance of Professor Karen Gleason. From 2007-2009, she was a postdoctoral fellow in the department of chemistry and chemical biology at Harvard University working under the guidance of Professor George Whitesides. Her current research interests at USC include polymer coatings and thin films, chemical vapor deposition, ionic liquids and microfluidics.