What is Polymer Science & Engineering (PSE)?

Polymers and soft materials are essential.  They are not only the critical components of every sector of modern human technology, but they are also the materials from which living organisms are made.  Their extraordinarily diverse and adaptable properties rely on the combination of well-defined chemical structure with the remarkable range of structural and dynamical phenomena they exhibit collectively, as large molecules.  The discipline of polymers & soft materials sits at the focal point between several core disciplines -- synthetic and physical chemistry, materials science & engineering, physics and biology --  integrating  foundational knowledge from those fields as a basis, and applying to develop wholly new conceptual frameworks and unprecedented materials that propel the frontier discoveries and innovation in those fields.

Main category (Current; Bio-inspired materials; engineering; energy and green science; nanostructure materials; soft materials physics; synthetic chemistry)

•  Materials for energy efficiency

  • Battery

  • Catalyst

  • Miniaturizing devices

• Materials for sustainable utilization of resources

  • Upcycling

  • Microplastics

• Materials inspired by living systems 

  • Understanding and engineering “living” materials

  • Bio-inspiration

  • Complex/adaptive/architected soft materials

  • Active matter

  • Biomaterials in general

  • Protein engineering

• Materials Made by Next-Generation Advanced Manufacturing

  • 3D printing

  • Additive manufacturing

  • Rapid thermal annealing

  • Roll-to-roll processing

 

Below is a list of the research areas and the faculty pursuing the research in that area.