Author: Felice Macera

The article is entitled “Impact of Hydroxyl Functionalization and Unsaturation on Linear Poly(ethylene-co-vinyl alcohol)”

Previous work in the PolyUp collaboration showed that linear EVOH (LEVOH) can be synthesized using post-polymerization functionalization to get varying alcohol contents that affect the crystallization behavior. This work investigates residual double bonds after functionalization and their impact on the structure and properties of LEVOH. Please follow the link below to read more about how the extent of dehydrogenation and alcohol functionalization allow for a wide range of tunable properties. 
And a shout out to James Votruba-Drzal and Vivek Nair, undergraduates in the group during Summer 2024, for being a co-authors!

https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.macromol.4c02575

In late February, Lindsay Jones traveled to France for the grEnoble eNerGy conversIoN & storagE (ENGINE2025) Winter School in Grenoble along with Justin Hughes, a 3^rd year PhD student from the Composto lab. They spent 5 days at the Grenoble Institute of Technology learning from some of the top European scientists about both the fundamentals and cutting-edge research surrounding energy storage and conversion. They also had the opportunity to present their work in poster sessions. As part of the winter school, they also visited the Institut Laue Langevin (ILL) Neutron Facility and the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF). Helping to coordinate the visit was Winey group collaborator Patrice Rannou.

The article is entitled “Water Dynamics of Superacid Aromatic Proton Exchange Membranes for Fuel Cell Applications”

Water dynamics in hydrated proton exchange membranes (PEMs) impact the performance of electrochemical devices like fuel cells. This paper quantifies the fraction of bulk-like water and bound water in three PEMS and the timescales of water motion in each to identify the best hydration environments for proton transport. Please see the link below to read about how polymer chemistry influences the water environment and the proton conductivity in PEMs and how this might be considered in the design of PEMs.

https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.macromol.4c02925

Maggie Brown passed her thesis proposal, titled “Improving the Stability of the Double Gyroid and Ion Mobility in Strictly Alternating Ion-Containing Multiblock Copolymers,” on February 14th, 2025 with committee members Karen Winey, Russell Composto, Chinedum Osuji, and Amalie Frischknecht. For the remainder of her PhD, she will be focusing on modifying the length, flexibility, and chemical composition of ion-containing multiblock copolymers (synthesized by the Mecking group at the University of Konstanz) to affect the stability of network morphologies.

We wish Dr. Chien-Hua Tu the best in his new role as an R&D Chemist at DuPont, Taiwan. Chien-Hua was a post-doc in the Winey group since 2023 and worked on characterizing functionalized polyolefins in the polymer upcycling collaboration, PolyUp. Chien-Hua’s expertise in electrochemical impedance spectroscopy has been invaluable to the Winey group.

The article titled “Increasing Branching and Functionalization Decreases Crystallinity and Crystallization Rate in Linear EVOH” was published in ACS Applied Polymer Materials. Congratulations!

Poly(ethylene-co-vinyl alcohol) (EVOH) is an important polymer for packaging applications because of its favorable mechanical properties and low oxygen permeability. This paper investigates the structure-property relationships of commercially available random, branched EVOH and a linear EVOH (LEVOH) with variable alcohol content, focusing on the crystallization behavior which impacts the material’s barrier properties. Please use the link below to read more about how the PolyUp collaboration identify potential advantages of using post-polymerization functionalization to synthesize a linear, customizable EVOH.

https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acsapm.4c03361

We are excited to have Lily Wang as a new CBE PhD student in the Winey Group. Lily is from Pittsburg, PA and earned her BS in Chemical Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University in 2022. Lily will join the Port5 project and work on reconstructing and characterizing 3D real-space nanoscale morphologies from small angle X-ray scattering data of ion containing polymers using the Gaussian Random Field method. Outside of work, Lily enjoys painting, lifting, and video games.

Sol Mi Oh’s work in collaboration with Prof. Chinedum Osuji’s group entitled “The Effects of Morphology and Hydration on Anion Transport in Self-Assembled Nanoporous Membranes” was published in ACS Nano. Congratulations!

A focus in the ion-containing polymers sub-group is how self-assembly of ionic groups into ordered structures impacts ion transport in ionomer systems, and how solvent enhances ionic conductivity. Sol Mi helped characterize membranes created by Chris Johnson with polymerized self-assembled surfactants. Please follow the link below to read how the membrane morphology’s ability to accommodate more solvent enhances ion motion.

https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acsnano.4c14234