Ph.D. and M.S. Theses

2020-2021

Ph.D.

  • Feiyang Chen (Advisor: D. Adamson) “Graphene Stabilized Water-in-Oil Emulsion: From Liquid to Solid Application”
  • Ngoc Chau Vy (Advisor: D. Adamson) “Controlling Dispersity of Polymer Brushes for Salt-Selective and Biologically Relevant Applications”

2019-2020

Ph.D.

  • Matthew Baczkowski (advisor: G. Sotzing) “Exploration of Conjugated Polymers and Electroactive Small Molecules within Electrochromic Devices”
  • Sonia Chavez (advisor: D. Sun) “One-Step Coassembly of Nanocoatings and Effects of the Deposition Methods”
  • Dongliang “Moses” Wang (advisor: F. Papadimitrakopoulos) “Liquid-crystal Organization in Perm-selective Membranes for Long Term Stable Enzymatic Sensors”

2018-2019

Ph.D.

  • Joon-Sung Kim (Advisor: A. Asandei) 1895858  “New Synthetic Methodologies for Complex PVDF Architectures”
  • Harish Kumar (Advisor: D. Adamson) 1926937  “Characterization of Graphene Oxide”
  • Sneh Sinha (Advisor: G. Sotzing) 1971562  “Organic Conductive Polymers as Printed Electronics on Fabrics”

M.S.

  • Zachary Bauman (Advisor: A. Ma) 1779765  “hBN-Acrylate Composite Printing: Stereolithography and UV-Assisted Direct Write”

2017-2018

Ph.D.

  • Mengfang Li (Advisor: G. Sotzing)  1965033  “Conjugated Polymer-Based Functional Materials for Wearable Electronics: Electrochromism”
  • Lalit Mahajan (Advisor: R. Kasi)        1979768  “Molecular Engineering of Hybrid Liquid Crystalline Brush-like Block Copolymers: Hierarchical Self-assembly and Application in Photonics”
  • Gregory Treich (Advisor: G. Sotzing)  2027053  “A Materials Genome Approach to the Design, Synthesis, and Testing of High Energy Density Dielectric Materials for Capacitor Applications”
  • Vignesh Vasu (Advisor: A. Asandei) 2017390 “Precision Synthesis of Complex Macromolecular Architectures of Gaseous Monomers and Their Property Studies”
  • Xiaozheng Zhang (Advisor: G. Sotzing) 1975970

2016-2017

Ph.D.

  • Jennifer Bento (Advisor: D. Adamson) “Synthesis and Modification of Pristine Graphene Composites”
  • Nhi Minh Doan (advisor: F. Papadimitrakopoulos) “Microfluidics and Permselective Membranes for Biosensors”
  • Yang Guo (Advisor: A. Ma) “Flexible and Stretchable Electronics: From Materials to Fabrication”
  • Garrett Kraft (Advisor: D. Adamson) “Templating The Formation Of Multidimensional Hybrid Materials And Composites”
  • Huseini Patanwala (Advisor: A. Ma) “Polymer Nanocomposites and Biomaterials: From Chemical Cross-linking to 3D Printing”

2015-2016

Ph.D.

  • Rui Ma (Advisor: G. Sotzing) “Simulation Guided Synthesis and Processing of Polymer Dielectrics”
  • Christopher Simpson (Advisor: A. Asandei) “Transition Metal Mediated Controlled Polymerizations of 1,3-Dienes, and Main Chain Fluorinated Monomers; Towards the Synthesis of Complex Macromolecular Structures”

2014-2015

Ph.D.

  • Banshali Kanjilal (Advisor: R. Parnas)“Fermentative Production Of 1,3-Propanediol From Industrial Glycerol And Its Pervaporative Enrichment From Aqueous Mixtures”
  • Zhe Li (Advisor: F. Papadimitrakopoulos) “Photo-crosslinkable O2-riched PEGylated Terpolymer for Long-term Enhanced Glucose Sensing”
  • Zhenhua Cui (Advisor: D. Adamson) “Boron Nitride Nanosheets and Their Applications in Polymeric Composites”

2013-2014

Ph.D.

  • Hyun-Sook Jang (Advisor: M-P. Nieh) “Principles of Structure-Function Relationships Applicable to Sensing Materials – Explosives and Bio-Diagnosis”
  • Ying Sun (Advisor: S. Boggs) “Computation of Intrinsic Breakdown based on Computational Quantum Mechanics”
  • Aaron Baldwin (Advisor: G. Sotzing) “Synthesis of Next Generation Dielectric Materials through Rational Exploration of Chemical Space”

2012-2013

Ph.D.

  • Olumide Adebolu (Advisor: A. Asandei) “New Methodologies in the Controlled Polymerization of Main Chain Fluorinated Monomers and Cyclic Esters”
  • Prashant Deshmukh (Advisor: R. Kasi) “Molecular Engineering of Side-Chain Liquid Crystalline Brush Copolymers for Photonic and Nanoporous Membrane Applications”
  • Andrew J. Oyer (Advisor: D. Adamson) “Exfoliation and Chemical Modification of Natural Flake Graphite”
  • Chetan Hire (Advisor: D. Adamson) “Condensation of Ceramics Using Block Copolymer Mimic of Silicaten-α”
  • Ranjan Kamat (Advisor: Y. Lin) “Adsorption, Diffusion and Activity of Polycatalytic Cellulase-Nanoparticle Conjugates”
  • Donna Mamangun (Advisor: G. Sotzing) “Surfactant-modified DNA and Conjugated Polymers for Photonic Applications”
  • Liangliang Qiang (Advisor: F. Papadimitrakopoulos) “Highly Sensitive and Long Term Stable Electrochemical Microelectrodes for Implantable Glucose Monitoring Devices”

M.S.

  • Rodrigo Ojeda Mota (Advisor: R. Parnas) “Epoxy Films as Adhesives for Mask Cleaning in Photolithography Process”

2011 – 2012

Ph.D.

  • Yujie Ding (Advisor: G.Sotzing) “In Situ Polymerization of Conjugated Polymers and Development of All-organic Electrochromic Fabric”
  • Sudsiri Hemsri (Advisor: R. Parnas) “Application of Wheat Gluten in Polymer Composites and Composite Particleboard”
  • Ki-Ryong Lee (Advisor: G. Sotzing) “Conjugated Polymers from Precursors and Their Applications”
  • Daminda Navarathne (Advisor: G. Sotzing) “Conjugated Polymers and DNA for Photovoltaic and Photonic Applications”
  • Chitrabala Subramanian (Advisor: M.T. Shaw) “Nanofiber-based Composite Structures for Ion-exchange Applications”
  • Hongying Zhao (Advisor: R. Weiss) “Viscoelastic Behavior of Low Molecular Weight Sulfonated Polystyrene Ionomers”

M.S.

  • Rubinder Kaur Lakhman (Advisor: R. Kasi) “A Study of End-functionalized Polylactide based Thin Films for Biomedical Applications”

2010 – 2011

Ph.D.

  • Jonathan Doll (Advisor: F. Papadimitrakopoulos) “The Low-Temperature Redox-Assisted Seeded Growth of CdSe Nanocrystals”
  • Fangxiao Guan (Advisor: L. Zhu) “Confined Ferroelectric Properties in Poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF)-Based Homopolymer, Copolymers and Graft Copolymers and Their Application in Electric Energy Storage”
  • Jong Hyun Park (Advisor: G.A. Sotzing) “Inkjet Printing of Metal Nanoparticles and Conducting Polymers onto Flexible Substrates and Their Applications”
  • David P. Penaloza, Jr. (Advisor: T. Seery) “Synthesis and Characterization of Polymer-Clay Systems Prepared by Surface-Initiated Polymerization”
  • Tais Pimentel (Advisor: P. Burkhard) “Self-assembling Polypeptide Nanoparticles: Design, Synthesis, Biophysical Characterization and Biomedical Applications”
  • Nitin Sharma (Advisor: R. Kasi) “Solution Self-Assembly of Block Copolymers: Towards Solid-State Electrolyte Applications”
  • Shih-Po Sun (Advisor: M.T. Shaw) “A Pultrusion Process for Preparing High-strength, High-modulus Bone Graft that is Biodegradable”
  • Yongkun Yang (Advisor: P. Burkhard) “Self-assembling Polypeptide Nanoparticles: Their Biophysical Properties, Refolding Conditions, and Potential Biomedical Applications”
  • Yuxiang Zhou (Advisor: R. Kasi) “Design of Advanced Materials by Exploiting Hierarchically-Structured Liquid Crystalline Block Copolymers”

M.S.

  • Dipendra Kundu (Advisor: R. Parnas) “Synthesis of a Polyethylene Membrane Support by Electrospinning – Optimization of the Parameters Involved”

2009 – 2010

Ph.D.

  • Chris Asemota (Advisor: G. Sotzing) “Nanofiber Processing for Improving Conducting Polymer Electrochromic Speeds and Nanofiber Alignment by Electrospinnig”
  • Jan-Michael Y. Carrillo (Advisor: E. Dobrynin) “Computational Studies of Polymeric Systems”
  • Jia Choi (Advisor: G. Sotzing) “A Precursor Approach to Conducting Polymers and its Application to Micro/Nano-fabrication of Conducting Polymers”
  • Tanmoy Dey (Advisor: G. Sotzing) “p-Conjugated Polymers for Electrochromic and Photovoltaic Applcations”
  • Michael A. Invernale (Advisor: G. Sotzing) “Electrochromic Polymers and Their Devices: From Windows to Fabric”
  • Gerald H. Ling (Advisor: M. Shaw) “Fabrication and the Rheology of Crystalline Polyethylene Microgels for Thermo-responsive Suspensions”
  • Xiaowen Zhai (Advisor: R. Weiss) “Wetting/Dewetting Behavior of Lightly Sulfonated Polystyrene Ionomers on Solid Surfaces”

M.S.

  • Benjamin Colby (Advisor: R. Weiss) “Synthesis of Sulfonated Poly(Lactic Acid) Ionomers”
  • David Melanson (Advisor: R. Weiss) “A One-Step Extrusion Process for the Preparation of Nanocomposites Comprising Poly(ethylene-co-methacrylic acid) Ionomers and Natural Montmorillonite”
  • Vincent Ustach (Advisor: F. Papadimitrakopoulos) “Efficacy of electropolmerized poly(o-phenylenediamine) and poly(phenol) as long term permselective membranes for biosensor application”

2008 – 2009

  • Ph.D.
  • Jayesh Bokira (Advisor: G. Sotzing) “Versatile Route for Syntheses of pi-Conjugated Polymers and Device Fabrication”
  • Yanhui Chen (Advisor: A. Asandei) “New Initiators and Catalysts for Living Radical and Ring Opening Polymerizations”
  • Sangyong Ju (Advisor: F. Papadimitrakopoulos) “Falvin-Derived Seld-Organization and Chirality Separation of Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes”
  • Donghun Koo (Advisor: Sung) “The Characterization of Stated of Water in Nifon and the Relationship between States of Water and Nifon Properties”
  • Laura McGrath (Advisor: R. Parnas) “Effects of Fillers and Filler Interface on Fracture Toughness of Epoxy-Alumina Composites”
  • Andrew Ro (Advisor: R. Weiss) “Synethesis of Poly(lactic acid) lonomers”
  • Shurui Shang (Advisor: R. Weiss) “Synthesis of Comb-like Copolymers from Renewable resources: Itaconic Anhydride, Stearyl Methacrylate and Lactic Acid”
  • Ravikumar Vijayaraghavan (Advisor: Sung) “Non-destructive FTIR Photoacoustic Spectroscopy (PAS) Studies on Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polyimides and Water Diffusion in Epoxies”
  • Sagar Vaddiraju (Advisor: F. Papadimitrakopoulos) “Sensitivity, Linearity and Reliable Enhancement of Implantable Glucose Sensors”

M.S.

  • Scott Kennedy (Advisor: R. Weiss) “Aging Behavior of Polyetherimide-Montmorillinonite Based Nanocomposite Materials”