Professor Thomas P. Russell
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Silvio O. Conte Distinguished Professor Polymer Science and Engineering Department Director, Materials Research Science and Engineering Center on Polymers Mailing Address: Phone:
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| Links: Research Group Full CV |
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Degree Information:
- Ph. D., Polymer Science and Engineering, 1979, University of Massachusetts at Amherst
- M. S., Polymer Science and Engineering, 1976, University of Massachusetts at Amherst
- B. S., Chemistry, 1976, Boston State College
Research Interests:
Polymer-based nanoscopic structures; Polymer-based nanoparticle assemblies; Electrohydrodynamic instabilities in thin polymer films; Surface and Interfacial Properties of Polymers; Polymer Morphology; Kinectics of Phase Transitions; Supercritical Fluid/Polymer Interactions
Current Research:
Polymers and block copolymers offer unique avenues for the fabrication of nanostructured materials. Over the past decade we have been developing routes and understanding the mechanism by which the orientation of the morphology in thin block copolymer films can be controlled with exquisite precision. This has given rise to a plethora of applications of polymers in current technologies. Efforts in our group have recently focused on: developing large scale arrays of nanoscopic elements using block copolymers having exceptional long-range order and, by chemical modification of the polymer; minimizing the size scale of the elements; simplifying the fabrication process; and, by use of supercritical fluid (SCF) CO2, performing spatially-specific metallization chemistries within the microphase separate morphologies. We are currently exploring electronic, magnetic, biological and sensory applications of the scaffolds and templates that are generated. In addition, by understanding the interfacial activity of nanoparticles we are developing routes to achieve multi-length scale ordering of nanoparticles that are emerging as interesting platforms for encapsulation and diffusion barriers. By use of electrostatic pressures at polymer interfaces we are also studying the enhancement of interfacial fluctuations and routes by which the lateral length scale and amplitudes of the fluctuations can be controlled. Finally, both hydrostatic pressure and SCF CO2 are being used to control the phase behavior in entropically driven phase transitions in polymer mixtures and block copolymers, discovered in our group, and on are recently discovered closed-loop phase diagram. Optical, laser scanning confocal, electron and scanning force microscopies, and neutron (reactors and spallation sources), light and x-ray scattering (in-house and synchrotron-based) are key techniques used in these studies.
Selected Publications
- Park, Soojin; Lee, Dong Hyun; Xu, Ji; Kim, Bokyung; Hong, Sung Woo; Jeong, Unyong; Xu, Ting; Russell, Thomas P. Science 2009, 323, 1030-1033. [Link]
- Huang, J.; Juszkiewicz, M.; Jeu, W. H. d.; Cerda, E.; Emrick, T.; Menon, N.; Russell, T. P. Science 2007, 317, 650-653. [Link]
- Balazs, A. C.; Emrick, T. S.; Russell, T. P. Science 2006, 314, 1107-1110. [Link]
- Wang, J.-Y.; Leiston-Belanger, J.; Xu, T.; Gupta, S.; Russell, T. P. Physical Review Letters 2006, 96, 128301-128304. [Link]
- Lin, Y.; Böker, A.; Sill, K.; Xiang, H.; Abetz, C.; Wang, J.; Emrick, T.; Balazs, A.; Russell, T. P. Nature 2005, 434, 55-59. [Link]
- Ryu, D. Y.; Shin, K.; Drockenmuller, E.; Hawker, C. J.; Russell, T. P. Science 2005, 308, 236-239. [Link]
- Shin, K.; Xiang, H.; Moon, S. I.; Kim, T.; McCarthy, T. J.; Russell, T. P. Science 2004, 306, 76-76. [Link]
- Böker, A.; Lin, Y.; Chiapperini, K.; Horowitz, R.; Thompson, M.; Carreon, V.; Xu, T.; Abetz, C.; Skaff, H.; Dinsmore, A. D.; Emrick, T.; Russell, T. P. Nature Materials 2004, 3, 302-306. [Link]
- Lin, Y.; Skaff, H.; Emrick, T.; Dinsmore, A.; Russell, T. P. Science 2003, 299, 226-229. [Link]
