While I was on sabbatical at NREL, I had the opportunity to learn more about NREL’s many efforts to reduce plastic waste. In this new paper in Nature Sustainability, Minjung Lee, Kat Knauer and the rest of the NREL team developed a method to extract dyes from polyester fabrics to make the fabrics easier to recycle. As an added bonus, the dyes can also be separated and reused. Eli Fastow and I provided structural characterization to further support their hypothesis that their dye extraction method does not perturb the crystalline structure. I’m looking forward to seeing how this method will be applied!
Category: Group-News
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NSF DMR Polymers grant awarded!
We are thankful to NSF for a new DMR Polymers grant that will fund research on nanoscale morphologies and solvent-enhanced cation transport in ionomers for 3 years starting on August 1, 2025. This research effort aims to understand to what extent nanoscale morphologies and selective solvents promote cation transport and the underlying mechanisms of cation transport. The proposed research combines structural characterization, conductivity measurements, and spectroscopy measurements on unique polymers to further develop the understanding and demonstration of decoupled ion motion in polymer electrolytes. Aim 1 endeavors to achieve the double gyroid morphology in strictly alternating multiblock copolymers near room temperature. We will investigate a variety of multiblock copolymers and processing strategies to determine the criteria for producing the double gyroid morphology in multiblock copolymers with strongly segregated and short blocks. Aim 2 will identify solvent attributes that promote Li+ and Na+ transport in polymers with aligned nanoscale layered morphologies. To eliminate the effect of morphological orientation and grain boundaries on transport in periodic nanoscale morphologies, we will fabricate thin films with aligned layers in strictly alternating multiblock copolymers and measure the in-plane conductivity as a function of solvent swelling and solvent type. Finally, Aim 3 seeks to improve ion transport in polymers with network morphologies by the addition of solvent. For this portion of the proposed project, we will study three types of partially sulfonated polymers that self-assemble into nanoscale ionic channels without long-range order. This broader range of polymers will test the applicability of our findings about solvent-enhanced ion transport in a variety of nanostructured polymers. In addition to providing exceptional opportunities for student education, this proposal will develop an environmental chamber for grazing incident X-ray scattering and provide professional development workshops for doctoral students.
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Prof. Winey and Hoda Shokrollahzadeh Behbahani attend the Gordon Research Conference in New Hampshire
Karen Winey and Hoda ShokrollahzadehBehbahani attended the 2025 Gordon Research Conference on Plastics Recycling and Upcycling at Southern New Hampshire University. Hoda presented a poster showcasing her research, and the conference was full of exciting talks and posters that highlighted the latest breakthroughs in the field. It was a fantastic opportunity to connect with many brilliant people and engage in thought-provoking discussions about the future of polymer recycling and upcycling.
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Our paper titled “Effect of Sulfonation Level on the Percolated Morphology and Proton Conductivity of Hydrated Fluorine-Free Copolymers: Experiments and Simulations” was published in JACS Au.
Previous work in the group characterized a precise ionomer with a sulfonated phenyl group on every 5th carbon as a Nafion-comparable proton conductor. This work shows that customizing the extent of sulfonation can tune properties, most importantly proton conductivity. Please follow the link below to learn more about how the Winey group is contributing valuable fundamental knowledge on the structure and water-uptake capabilities of these proton-conducting polymers and their relevance to sustainable energy efforts as a fluorine-free proton exchange membrane for electrochemical devices. And we are excited that Victoria Lee, an undergraduate in the group is second author of the paper.
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Congratulations on a successful thesis proposal, Ben Indeglia!
Ben Indeglia (CBE) successfully defended his thesis proposal exploring catalytic transport in Bipolar Membranes (BPMs). BPMs provide a sustainable source of hydrogen at the heterojunction of two oppositely charged ionomers sandwiching a nanoparticle catalyst layer. The stability and morphology of this system are underexplored, allowing Ben to focus on nanoparticle diffusion and catalyst layer evolution and how this relates to the lifecycle of BPM systems. His committee members are Profs. Tom Mallouk (Chemistry), Aleks Vojvodic (CBE), and John Crocker (CBE).
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Congratulations to our 1st year PhD students, Sam Chen and Will Presson, on passing their qualifying exams!
First-year PhD students Sam Chen (CBE) and Will Presson (MSE) successfully passed their qualifying exams. Sam and Will demonstrated mastery of their first-year coursework and promise as strong researchers. Sam presented his work on characterizing linear ethylene-vinyl alcohol as a potential barrier layer for multilayer packaging. Will presented his work on precise fluorine-free polymer electrolytes for anion exchange membrane applications. We are looking forward to seeing them progress during their PhD studies.
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Ben Indeglia presented a poster at the Electrochemical Society 248th Meeting in Montreal
Ben Indeglia showed preliminary results of interface transport and nanoparticle diffusion in polymer electrolytes at the Electrochemical Society 248th Meeting in Montreal. There, he brought a polymer physics perspective to electrochemical experts, to connect important structure-property relationships to chemical phenomena. He presented a poster, and attended a myriad of seminars and discussions, connected with national and international researchers.
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Work from the PolyUp collaboration published in ACS Applied Polymer Materials!
“Synthesis and Blending of Two Poly(ethylene-co-vinyl alcohol) Polymers with Mixed 1,2-Diol Stereochemistry”
If plastic waste can be successfully dehydrogenated, countless avenues for polymer functionalization open to re-create and invent high-value plastic products. This work contributes to the PolyUp projects repertoire of possible functionalizations to a model dehydrogenated polyethylene and demonstrates the potential to control the stereochemistry of the pendant groups. Please see the link below to read more about how tuning the stereochemistry of regio-regular diol functionalizations on a polyethylene backbone impact the thermal and morphological properties of a novel plastic. And a shout out to James Votruba-Drzal, an undergraduate in the group during Summer 2024, for being a co-author!
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Group members attended the APS 2025 Global Physics Summit in Anaheim
Five Winey group members attended the American Physical Society’s Joint March Meeting and April Meeting: Global Physics Summit 2025. While at the meeting, Winey group members gave posters (Maggie Brown, Ben Ferko) and talks (Maggie Brown, Will Drayer, Katie Sun, and Karen Winey) at various focus sessions throughout the week. Besides fruitful discussions and networking opportunities, attendees had the chance to explore Anaheim, home of Disneyland.
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Katie Sun’s article published in Macromolecules. Congratulations!
The article is entitled “Gold Nanoparticle Adsorption in Covalently Bonded Weak Polyelectrolyte Brushes”
Sun et al. investigate how variations in molecular weight of homopolymer poly(2-vinylpyridine) (P2VP) brushes influence the adsorption of citrate-coated gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) under different pH conditions. This study focuses on the advantages of the homopolymer brush architecture, which enables independent control over grafting density via molecular weight, offers simpler fabrication compared to block copolymer (BCP) brushes, and provides greater structural robustness. The authors find that higher molecular weight brushes adsorb more nanoparticles, particularly at low pH when the brushes are swollen. Please follow the link below to read more about how this trend mirrors observations in BCP systems, but with the added benefit of improved brush tunability and stability.