10th Excellence in Polymer Graduate Research Symposium

 

Dallas, TX- March 16-20, 2014

 

 

 

 

The tenth symposium on "Excellence in Polymer Graduate Research" took place at the national ACS meeting in Dallas, Texas on March 16-18, 2014.  The purposes of this symposium are to provide recognition to outstanding graduate students in polymer science and engineering, to foster networking and exposure, and to help develop the careers of future leaders in our field.  We publicized this symposium via the POLY list server, POLY web page, and direct email messages to over 100 departments that are active in polymer research.  We requested that each department nominate one outstanding graduate student to speak on his or her original research in this special symposium.  Each student should fill out an application form and have a nominating letter from the research advisor and a letter from the department head.

 

This year we received a record number of 55 submissions.  (The previous record was 42 in 2013.)  We were very pleased with both the quantity and the quality of the papers.  The symposium was organized into four half-day oral sessions, a very large poster session, and a networking social. In the oral sessions on Sunday and Monday 28 students gave talks on their work, and in the Tuesday poster session 27 students presented their posters.  These oral and poster sessions went very well.  Many graduate students asked questions during the talks, and it was enjoyable to see them interacting during and after the sessions. 

 

As part of the recognition, each student received a certificate plus a cash award.  We were pleased that Dr. Tom Barton, the 2014 ACS President, personally visited the symposium and spoke to the students.  Tom actually worked with polymers early in his career and made a reference to his experience in his speech.  Later, Dr. Kathryn Beers, the 2014 Chair of the ACS Polymer Chemistry Division, also spoke to the students.  A reception followed where the students mingled with the participants of the POLY Undergraduate Symposium.

 

 

This symposium was organized by the ACS Polymer Chemistry Division (POLY), and cosponsored by Presidential Event (PRES), Young Chemists Committee (YCC), Division of Professional Relations (PROF), and Society Committee on Education (SOCED).  The symposium had the generous support of POLY, Industrial Advisory Board of the Polymer Division (IAB), and the Division of Materials Research at National Science Foundation (NSF/DMR).  The detailed symposium program is attached.

 

Symposium Organizing Committee:
H. N. Cheng (POLY Member, USDA)
Christopher Ellison (POLY Member, Univ. of Texas)
Christine Landry-Coltrain (POLY Alternate Councilor, Eastman Kodak)
Timothy E. Long (POLY Past Chair, Virginia Tech)

 

Symposium Program

 Hyatt Regency Room Reverchon A/B

 

Oral Session 1.  Sunday morning 8:30 AM (Session Chairs:  Christine Landry-Coltrain, Chris Ellison) 

Novel Polymeric Systems 
 

Introductory Remarks  
22115   Shape Amphiphiles Based on POSS-Polymer Conjugates: Systematic Molecular Design, Sequential “Click” Synthesis, and Diverse Self-Assembly Behaviors.  Yue, Kan, U. of Akron - Polymers
23424   Clickable Nucleic Acids: From Click Chemistry to Sequence Controlled Polymers.  Xi, Weixian, U. of Colorado
21109   Maleic Anhydride and Ester Functionalization of Polypropylene with Suppressed Molecular Weight Reduction via Solid-State Shear Pulverization.  Diop, Mirian, Northwestern U.
12274     Exploring Amphiphilic Copolymer Architectures with Cyclic Topology base on Poly(ethylene gylcol) and Polycaprolactone: Synthesis, Characterization and Self-assembly Behavior.  Zhang, Boyu, Tulane U.

 

10:15 to 10:30 AM         Intermission (Visit by ACS President, Tom Barton)

 

13174     Layer-by-layer approach for individual encapsulation of cells based on hydrogen-bonded, complimentary electrostatic and hydrophobic interactions.  Drachuk, Irina, Georgia Tech - Materials
11397     Cationic Cobaltocenium-Containing Polymers: From Synthesis to Advanced Applications.  Zhang, Jiuyang, U. of South Carolina
13134     Fluorine Containing UV-Curable Materials for Advanced Transport Applications.  Goetz, James, U. of Southern Mississippi

 

    
Oral Session 2.  Sunday afternoon 1:00 PM (Session Chair:  Chris Ellison, Christine Landry-Coltrain)   

Mechanical, Stimuli-related, and Surface Patterning

Recognition of Poster Presenters
14557 Multi-Functional Stimuli-Responsive Polymers. Michal, Brian, Case Western Reserve U.
10797 Materials that provide an amplified response through stimuli-induced depolymerization. DiLauro, Anthony, Penn State - Chem
22516 Photodirected confinement of wrinkles on a thiol-ene elastomer. Ma, Stephen, U. of Delaware - ChE
23071 Light-Mediated Addition Reaction and Controlled Radical Polymerization for Patterning Surfaces. Poelma, Justin, U. of California, Santa Barbara - Materials
 Intermission. 

16184 Engineering network associations for control of responsive reinforcement in nanostructured physical hydrogels. Glassman, Matthew, MIT
13321 Stess-responsive polymers via mechanochemistry. Kean, Zachary, Duke U.
16039 Modulating mechanochemical reactivity through regiochemical effects. Brantley, Johnathan, U. of Texas - Chem

Remarks by POLY Chair, Dr. Kathryn Beers  4:30 PM to 5:00 PM
Symposium Reception (Hyatt Regency - Cotton Bowl Room) 5:00 PM to 6:00 PM

 

  
Oral Session 3.  Monday morning 8:30 AM (Session Chair:  H. N. Cheng, Christine Landry-Coltrain)

Biological and Biomedical Applications

 

16549 Heparin-mimicking polymer conjugates stabilize basic fibroblast growth factor.  Nguyen, Thi 
20654 Resilin-PEG hybrid hydrogels: Analysis of cross-linking chemistries, mechanical properties and biocompatibility. McGann, Christopher, U. of Delaware - Materials
11164 Towards smart polymeric drug carriers: Self-assembling ?-substituted polycaprolactones with highly tunable thermoresponsive behavior. Rainbolt, Elizabeth, U. of Texas - Dallas
23167 Multivalent 3D display of glycopolymer chains from proteins for enhanced lectin interaction. Lin, Ken, UCLA - Bioeng
 Intermission  
12671 A pro-adjuvant strategy for delivery of vaccine adjuvants through PRINT nanoparticles. Mueller, Sarah, U. of North Carolina
13988 Structural impact and targeting effect of diblock glycopolymer pDNA delivery system. Wu, Yaoying, U. of Minnesota
20597 Synthesis of Organic Nanomaterials for Photothermal Ablation of Cancer Cells. Cantu, Travis, Texas State - Materials
 
Oral Session 4.  Monday afternoon 1:00 PM (Session Chair:  Chris Ellison, H. N. Cheng)   
Various Applications

 

22295 Nano- and micro-structured photopolymers as photoreceptor regeneration scaffolds. Worthington, Kristan 
13600 Polymerizations with elemental sulfur: Sustainable polymers for energy and optics. Griebel, Jared, U. of Arizona
12258 Poly(benzothiadiazole-sexithiophene-diketopyrrolopyrrole) polymeric semiconductors: synthesis, characterization and charge transport properties. Fu, Boyi, Georgia Tech - ChE
15795 Sorting of Semiconducting SWNTs by conjugated polymers and their electronic applications. Wang, Huiliang, Stanford U.
 Intermission  
22444 Correlating polymer properties to ionic-conductivity in poly(glycidyl ether)-based electrolytes. Barteau, Katherine, U. of California, Santa Barbara - ChE
13875 Improved polymer solar cell performance through new device designs. Lu, Luyao, U. of Chicago
23323 New n-Type Polymer Semiconductors For All-Polymer Solar Cells. Hwang, Ye-Jin, U. of Washington
   
   
Poster Session - Tuesday, 5:30 - 7:30 pm

(Dallas Convention Center Hall A)

19840 Synthesis and characterization of thieno[3,4-b]thiophene acceptors with alkyl, aryl, perfluoroalkyl and perfluorophenyl pendants for donor-acceptor low bandgap polymers. Homyak, Patrick, U. of Massachusetts
16234 Synthesis and characterization of collagen grafted poly hydroxybutyrate valerate (PHBV) scaffold for loading of bovine serum albumin capped silver (Ag/BSA) nanoparticles in the potential use of tissue engineering application. Bakare, Rotimi, Howard U.
20901 Radical reactions useful for the synthesis of functional polymeric materials enabled by hypervalent iodine compounds. Han, Hongzhang, Southern Methodist U.
15576 Synthesis of photo-cross-linkable core-shell bottlebrush copolymers and their transformation into well-defined organic nanotubes. Onbulak, Sebla, State U. of New York at Buffalo
21234 Copolymerization: A humble approach to synthesize high strength glycosaminoglycan hydrogel scaffolds. Khanlari, Anahita, U. of Kansas
20153 Thermoresponsive bottlebrush polymers. LI, XIANYU, Rice U.
14555 Characterization and Application of Dendrimer-Rhodamine Conjugates. Dougherty, Casey, U. of Michigan - Chem
20751 Conductive polymer based ultrasensitive potentiometric immunosensors. Zhang, Qi, NYU - Polytechnic Institute
22368 Inorganic-organic hydrogel scaffolds for tissue engineering. Nail, Lindsay, Texas A&M U. - Biomed Eng
23568 Ion-mobility mass spectrometry of a widely used photochromic system: Experimental support for the cisoid form of spiropyran. Rogers, Robert, Texas State U. - Chem
13226 Mass spectrometry characterization of branched glycopolymers. Liu, Xiumin, U. of Akron - Chem
10277 Helical Molecular Switches: Identification of the Specific Molecular and Supramolecular Rearrangement in a Thermo- and Solvo- Driven Chiroptical Switching Polycarbodiimide. Reuther, James, North Carolina State
20348 Understanding The Process-Structure Relationship for Building Polymer-CNT Interphases. Zhang, Yiying, Northeastern U.
10416 Role of polymer stereoregularity on nanocomposites of Polystyrene with Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes. London, Laurisa, Clark Atlanta U.
12000 Remarkably regioselective deacylation of cellulose esters using tetrabutylammonium hydroxide. Zheng, Xueyan, Virginia Tech - Macro
12850 Kinetics and thermodynamics of the decarboxylation of glycerol carbonate to produce glycidol: Computational insights. Yeung, Andrew, Texas A&M U. - Chem
13624 Weak acid congeners: Polymer bound 1H-tetrazole v. carboxylic acid. Chaloux, Brian, Penn State - Materials
15442 Borane-functionalized polythiophenes for optoelectronic and sensory applications. Guo, Fang, Rutgers U.
15520 Diffusion of Nanomedicineinto Composite Hydrogels: Time-resolved microMRI. Wang, Xiaoling, Virginia Tech - Chem
20886 Synthesis of Tertiary Amine-Based pH-Responsive Block Copolymers for Use as 'Smart' MRI Contrast Agents. Zhu, Liping, Colorado School of Mines
16353 Development of Sustainable Thermoplastic Elastomers from Vegetable Oils. Wang, Shu, U. of Houston
16514 Antibacterial and hemolytic activities of peptide mimetic amphiphilic polyacrylates and poly(vinyl ester)s with systematic structural variations. Punia, Ashish, City U. of New York - College of Staten Island
16903 High Energy Density Supercapacitors from Lignin derived Submicron Activated Carbon Fibers. Hu, Sixiao, U. of California, Davis
20538 New top coat design controls orientation of sub-10 nm block copolymer domains. Maher, Michael, U. of Texas -ChE
20286 Phosphorus Flame Retardants for Polymeric Materials Derived from Esters of Isosorbide and 10-Undecenoic Acid. Daniel, Yoseph, Central Michigan U. - Materials
20648 Effective, Non-migrating Flame Retardants for Polymeric Materials Derived from 1,1-Di(4-aminophenyl)-1-dopylethane. Han, Xiaorui, Central Michigan U. - Chem
15268 Laboratory test for ice release, first results from a prototypical glass (PMMA). Wang, Chenyu, Virginia Commonwealth U.