CBE & MSE: Big Effects of Nanoscale Physisorbed Polymer Chains on Solids

Abstract: Polymer interfacial structures are present in a wide array of polymer-based products including a variety of downstream products used in daily life and a number of advanced technological products either already in use or in development. Therefore, a full understanding of the polymer interface is crucial for the development of new and advanced polymer products. However, the length scale of a polymer interface is limited to a few nanometers or less; furthermore, the polymer interface is always in contact with the thicker part of the polymer and/or solid material. This makes the study and understanding of the polymer interface a very challenging task.

In this talk, I will present our recent experimental and molecular dynamics simulation results on the buried polymer interfaces toward the development of novel polymer-based nanotechnologies. First, I will show the self-organization processes of various polymer chains via physisorption onto solid surfaces. Next, I will highlight the unique structures, dynamics and properties of the adsorbed polymer chains on planar and curved (nanofillers) solids. Third, I will discuss their critical roles in film stability of polymer thin films/nanoparticle stabilized polymer-blend films, pattern formation of block-copolymer thin films, and the adhesion at the solid-polymer interface. Finally, I will demonstrate that the physisorbed polymer chains can be used as a new design of anti-fouling polymer nanocoatings.

Bio: Tad Koga is an associate professor in the Department of Materials Science and Chemical Engineering at Stony Brook University (SBU). He is also an affiliated faculty member in the Department of Chemistry at SBU. He received his doctorate in 1998 under the guidance of Takeji Hashimoto (Kyoto University, Japan). After that, he spent two years in Ben Chu’s group (SBU) as a postdoctoral researcher. He was the spokesperson of the Advanced Polymers Beamline (X27C) at National Synchrotron Light Source and is a research member of the Advanced Soft Material Beamline Consortium (SPring-8, Japan) and S-type neutron-scattering research project at KEK (Japan). He received the NSF CAREER award for his work on green polymer surface processing using supercritical carbon dioxide in 2009.

Host: Professor Albert Yee