Abstract: All interactions of materials with their respective environments are controlled by the topography and chemical composition of their surfaces. Examples are the adhesion between two objects, wetting of surfaces by contacting liquids and the adsorption of molecules from the surrounding medium. Accordingly, it is important to develop chemical tools, which allow the attachment of […]

Abstract: Spatially resolving stimuli can allow us to better understand physicochemical processes in complex environments . Towards this goal, we develop ways of integrating Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) chemistry into stimuli-responsive polymer architectures, such that FRET output (i.e., spectral shift in fluorescence) reflects polymer chain conformation . Using FRET, we can spatially resolve conformation […]

Abstract: Architected materials typically derive their mechanical properties from continuous, rigidly connected networks of struts, plates, or shells. In this talk, I will introduce an alternative design paradigm based on discrete, topologically interlocked building blocks: polycatenated architected materials (PAMs). Inspired by chain mail, PAMs consist of rings, polygons, or polyhedral cages concatenated into three-dimensional networks […]