Polymers have been at the forefront of soft nanomaterials research due to their availability from inexpensive feedstocks, chemical versatility and nanometer size scale. Copolymers can be produced by incorporating two or more different monomeric building blocks into a polymer chain in a random, alternating or blocky fashion. The solid state structure and properties of polymeric materials depend on the chemical identity of polymer chains as well as their ability to interact with each other to form supramolecular assemblies.

Our research program embraces all the steps of a successful materials design, from building tailored polymer structures and architectures to analyzing their supramolecular organization and self-assembly to testing their final macroscale properties. The main thrust is centered around shape-persistent macromolecules, such as bottlebrush copolymers, as building blocks for nanoscale assemblies and functional materials. Our research efforts address ongoing challenges in the broad fields of nanotechnology and biomedical sciences, including nanodevice construction, ultrafiltration, DNA sequencing, drug delivery and molecular electronics. Multidisciplinary nature of the program allows students to acquire diverse synthetic and analytical skills and develop broad scientific vision.