CEMS Faculty

Research Areas: Coatings, Materials Processing, Ceramic-Polymer Composites

Research in my group focuses on the materials science of coatings, ceramic/polymer composites and interfaces. The emphasis is on processing and microstructure control, but some projects also explore the important connections between the structure and the properties. Research projects are collaborative, involving other faculty and colleagues in industry.

A major area of research is coatings. Many products are made by coating processes (e.g., adhesive tapes, magnetic storage media, flexible electronics), while others are coated to improve their performance (e.g., laptop screens, biomedical devices, windows). Research in the Coating Process Fundamentals Program of IPRIME (Industrial Partnership in Interfacial and Materials Engineering) addresses fundamental scientific and engineering challenges in coatings. My coatings research explores processing and microstructure development of coatings prepared by deposition of a liquid (solution, monomer, dispersion of particles) followed by drying or curing. In collaboration with Professor A.V. McCormick, we study drying, solidification and stress development, and microstructure development in coatings. Coating systems of current interest are colloidal ceramics, sol-gel derived ceramics, polymers and ceramic/polymer composites. Experimental probes include cryo-scanning electron microscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, surface probe microscopies, bending of coated elastic beams and infrared spectroscopy. Theory-based modeling of drying, microstructure and stress development accompanies the experimental work. Processing and structural development studies are often coupled with investigations of coating properties including optical, electrical, and mechanical properties.

Research is also underway in the area of polymer/ceramic composites and interfaces. Here the projects are varied, but are unified by their emphasis of understanding the development of structure and the role of interfaces. In collaboration with Professor F. S. Bates, we are exploring composites of nanoparticles in block copolymer matrices. Controlling microstructure requires attention to the design of nanoparticle-polymer interfaces and the the relative size scales of the particles and block copolymers. With Professor J. H. Davidson of the Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, we are studying the formation of calcium carbonate deposits on polymers exposed to water in their application in solar water heating systems. The goal is to understand the nucleation and growth process that creates the deposit and develop a strategy to reduce scale. Lastly, we are exploring the crystallization of needle-like salt crystals on the surfaces of porous, solution saturated surfaces. The aim is to control the dimensions of the crystals and use them as nanostructure templates.

Selected Publications

Current Research Staff

Christine Cardinal,  Kathleen Crawford,  Karan Jindal,  Sreeram Kalpathy,  Kazuhiko Morizawa,  Erica Redline,  Takumi Shibuta,  Robert Shurig,  Jin-Oh Song,  Kumar Varoon,  Lynn Wolf,  Heng Zhang