The
Chemical
Engineering
Department
is
hosting
a
special
graduate
seminar
about Topology-Driven
Design
of
Sustainable
Soft
Matter.
Abstract:
The current landscape of production and end-of-life management of soft polymer materials is worsening both the climate and global plastic waste crises. Innovation in two areas is needed: (1) building advanced soft matter from renewable and biosourced starting materials and (2) developing new strategies to deconstruct and recycle plastic waste. This seminar will describe how we can address these challenges by leveraging and engineering the topology of soft materials. First, I will describe how cellulose nanocrystals can serve as renewable and abundantly bioavailable building blocks for biomimetic hydrogels. I will show that CNC-based hydrogels can recapitulate the filamentous nanostructure and unique mechanical properties of the polymer networks found in biological tissues. These CNC-based hydrogels also support the growth of patient-derived microtumors, allowing them to serve as a platform for personalized cancer therapy. The second part of my talk will focus on innovative topology-driven strategies for deconstructing and recycling thermosetting plastics. Crosslinked plastics, known are thermosets, are currently non-recyclable and non-degradable. “Drop-in” of cleavable comonomers into the polymer network is a proven approach for introducing on-demand destructibility into thermosets without compromising their thermomechanical properties. I will describe the application of this strategy for the deconstruction of vinylic thermosets like styrene resins, acrylates, and rubbers, which are extensively used in industry and medicine. By identifying the optimal location for cleavable bonds within the network’s topology, we can achieve deconstruction of thermosets with minimal changes to the formulation and properties of these important materials.