Friday, January 31, 2025 9:30am to 10:30am
About this Event
3700 O'Hara Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15261
Probing Molecular Structures of Polymers at Buried Solid/Liquid and Solid/Solid Interfaces in Situ Nondestructively
Abstract: Polymer interfacial properties play significant roles in many applications such as polymer coatings, polymer composites, polymer adhesives, and multilayer polymer films. Polymer interfacial properties are determined by interfacial structures. Therefore, it is important to study molecular structures of polymer interfaces. We applied sum frequency generation (SFG) vibrational spectroscopy to investigate molecular structures of polymers at buried solid/liquid and solid/solid interfaces in situ in real time nondestructively. SFG is a second-order nonlinear optical spectroscopy, which can provide vibrational spectra of buried interfaces with an excellent sub-monolayer interface specificity. SFG has been successfully used to study chemical reactions at buried interfaces to understand molecular adhesion mechanisms of multilayer polymer films, potting compounds on primers, silicone adhesives, and polyurethane adhesives. SFG has also been applied to study surface hydration of a variety of polymer materials at solid/liquid interfaces in situ to elucidate antifouling activities of zwitterionic polymers and silicone materials. SFG results provide in-depth understanding on polymer interfacial structure-function relationships, aiding in the design and development of polymers with desired interfacial behavior and properties.
Bio: Prof. Zhan Chen is Michael D. Morris Collegiate Professor of Chemistry, Macromolecular Science and Engineering, Biophysics, and Applied Physics at the University of Michigan. He received his BS degree from Peking University, MS degree from Chinese Academy of Sciences, PhD degree from the University of California at Berkeley, and did his postdoctoral research in Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. He then worked at the University of Michigan as an assistant professor (2000-2005), an associate professor with tenure (2005-2009), and was promoted to a full professor with tenure in 2009, focusing on the research on molecular level understanding of structures of polymers and biological molecules at interfaces using advanced spectroscopic methods. Professor Chen is a senior editor of Langmuir, a Fellow of American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and a Fellow of Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC).
Host; Lei Li
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