 Assistant Professor Phone: 413-577-1121 Email: rkatsumata@umass.edu Meet the Katsumata Group! | Degree Information:B.Eng. Organic and Polymeric Materials, Tokyo Institute of Technology, 2009M.Eng. Organic and Polymeric Materials, Tokyo Institute of Technology, 2011 Ph.D. Chemical Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, 2016 Katsumata Group Website Mailing Address:Department of Polymer Science and EngineeringRoom: A516, Conte Research Center University of Massachusetts Amherst 120 Governors Drive Amherst, MA 01003 |
Research InterestsClick here to read Reika Katsumata's CVDesign Extremely Confined Soft/Hard Interfaces Current Research
Honors and Distinctions
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At the intersection of chemical engineering and materials science, Katsumata Research Group procures material performance otherwise impossible by “vaporization” of fundamental science and “condensation” of real-world problems, nurtured by education and mentoring. Specifically, we design extremely confined soft/hard interfaces through synergistic studies on Taming their fundamental properties focusing on dynamics and wettability, Tailoring them by robust chemistry, and Transforming them by novel rapid thermal annealing, bridging the knowledge gap between soft/hard materials and science/engineering. Thrust 1 leverages rapid thermal annealing of polymers to fabricate functional porous materials and defect-healing/doping 2D materials, which are relevant for energy materials and 2D materials-based devices. Thrust 2 aims to develop reprocessible, thus sustainable, crosslinked polymers via ultrasound-mediated bond-exchange reactions. Thrust 3 is the foundation of our research group; understanding dynamics and wettability of polymers at interfaces by creating new characterization methods and/or rationally designed model systems.