Category: Linkedin-News

I’m excited to welcome five new people to the group this semester. New people bring new ideas, new areas of expertise, and new energy that propels our research into new directions! I’m looking forward to seeing where we go together! 

Dr. Nico Marioni completed his doctoral thesis at the University of Texas under the supervision of Prof. Venkat Ganesan and Prof. Benny Freeman. Nico has expertise in molecular dynamics simulations of charged and hydrated polymer systems and an exceptionally strong publication record. In collaboration with Dr. Amalie Frischknecht, he is joining our DOE-funded project to study proton-conducting polymer electrolytes.

A new master’s degree student (Jamie Polonet) and three senior undergraduate students (Sunehra Chowdhury, Phillip Delikouras, and Will McCambridge) are joining with Dr. Hoda Shokrollahzadeh Behbahani, a current postdoc in the group, to explore a new direction for polymer upcycling of polyolefins into higher value polymers.

Please see our LinkedIn post here.

The scope of our DOE BES-funded team has expanded from proton-conducting polymer to include hydroxide-conducting polymers. I’m happy to announce our first paper in this area, entitled “Investigating Morphology and Diffusion in Simulations of Precise Anion-Conducting Polymers,” which recently appeared in Macromolecules. In collaboration with Dr. Amalie Frischknecht of the Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies at Sandia National Laboratories, we explored the structure and dynamics of two precise, hydrated polymers with quaternary ammonium groups using atomistic molecular dynamics simulations. Even at modest water contents, percolated nanoscale water channels form, and we quantify these non-periodic structures with channel width distributions, fractal dimensions, and characteristic length scales. Interestingly, we found a correlation between the fractal dimension and the diffusion coefficient of the hydroxide ion. 

Our collaborator, Justin Kennemur of Florida State University, has recently synthesized these materials and we are busy characterizing their morphologies and conductivities. So, there is definitely more to come from us on anionic exchange membranes.

Also, here’s a special shout out to Emily Duan and James Johnson, two undergraduates at the University of Pennsylvania, who worked with Will Drayer on these simulations.

Read the article here: https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.macromol.5c01789

Last week, Aubry Hymel, a 3rd year PhD student in the Winey group, visited our collaborators Prof. Stefan Mecking and Viola Burlein at the University of Konstanz, Germany. Aubry is studying the self-assembly of precisely alternating multiblock copolymers synthesized by the Mecking group. During Aubry’s week-long stay at the University of Konstanz (September 15-19), Viola demonstrated the synthesis protocols, purification methods, and analytical techniques used to synthesize these remarkable polymers. Aubry even got hands-on experience making a polymer herself! She also gave a talk while in Konstanz entitled “PES5Na18 tri-block morphology and ion transport in polystyrene-like ionomers.” Many thanks to Stefan Mecking, Viola and the entire Mecking lab group for hosting Aubry last week and making her visit an enriching experience!

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We are delighted to share our latest article in Macromolecules titled “Polyhalohydrins: Investigating Vicinal Functionalities by Ring-Opening of Epoxides on Polyolefins”, the result of a great collaboration with Bryan Coughlin group at University of Massachusetts Amherst.

While polymers functionalized with one substituent such as hydroxyl or chloro groups (e.g., EVOH, CPE) are well studied, polymers bearing vicinal functionalities remain largely unexplored. Here, we report the synthesis of three polyhalohydrins (polychlorohydrin, polybromohydrin, and polyiodohydrin) via epoxidation of polycyclooctene (PCOE) followed by epoxide ring-opening with haloacids. Incorporation of vicinal halohydrin groups disrupts crystallinity, and X-ray scattering indicates the presence of dimeric and trimeric associations. Adhesion testing reveals enhanced interfacial performance, with polychlorohydrin exhibiting nearly a threefold increase in lap joint shear strength relative to hydrogenated PCOE, consistent with the increased polarity and surface energy observed across the series.

These findings establish vicinal halohydrin functionalization as a versatile strategy for expanding the chemical modification toolbox of polyolefins, offering a pathway to tune interfacial and macroscopic behaviors such as adhesion through controlled introduction of vicinal, orthogonally accessible functionalities.

Read the article here

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Congratulations to Winey group postdoc Hoda Shokrollahzadeh Behbahani! She received the Early Career Researcher Best Poster Award from the ACS PMSE Division at the American Chemical Society Fall 2025 meeting in Washington, DC.

Hoda presented a poster based on our polymer upcycling work with Anne Radzanowski from the Bryan Coughlin group at University of Massachusetts Amherst. We showed that halohydrin-functionalized polyolefins provide a novel, tunable platform for tailoring interfacial properties and enabling orthogonal functionalization toward polymer-to-polymer transformations.

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Yesterday, two Winey group alumni stopped by Penn for a visit. Jinseok Park received his Ph.D. in 2022 and now works as a postdoc at Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology. Jinseok gave a seminar to my current group, and it was great to hear about his continued research progress. Kaitlin W. graduated with her Ph.D. in 2024 and is now at Merck as a Senior Scientist. It’s always a pleasure to welcome back former students and to build connections between former and current students!

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We hosted our collaborators from the University of Konstanz (Germany) including Prof. Stefan Mecking and three of his graduate students (Katharina Scherer, Katrin Wurst, Viola Burlein). The students gave excellent talks in Penn’s new Vagelos Laboratory for Energy Science and Technology (VLEST). We enjoyed many stimulating scientific discussions about recent results, manuscripts, and future research plans. We also had fun comparing German and US culture, and shared many meals highlighting the great food of Philadelphia! Thanks to graduate students Benjamin Ferko, Margaret Brown, and Aubry Hymel for their assistance in coordinating the visit.

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The Winey lab is excited to welcome six undergraduate students to our group this summer.

Left to right:

Allen Jiang, CBE class of 2026, is being mentored by Maggie Brown, working on characterizing ion-containing multiblock polymers.
Alexandra Whittle, CBE class of 2028, is being mentored by Will Drayer, working on simulating anion exchange membrane materials.
Anatoli Beyene, CBE class of 2028, is being mentored by Lindsay Jones, working on Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy of proton exchange membrane materials.
Will McCambridge, MSE class of 2026, is being mentored by Hoda Shokrollahzadeh Behbahani, working on contact angle and surface free energy measurement of poly(halohydrin)s.
Anthony Senouillet, CBE class of 2026, is being mentored by Ben Ferko, working on swelling sulfonated polystyrene with a variety of solvents.
Zixuan Lin (Gina), CBE class of 2027, is being mentored by Katie Sun, working on controlling grafting density of P2VP brushes.

Allen, Will, Anthony, and Gina are all continuing their work from this past academic year, and Alexandra and Anatoli are starting new projects. We are looking forward to a productive and fun summer!

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I’ve returned from a productive and enjoyable trip to Michigan, where I had the opportunity to give four lectures as the 2025 Turner J. Alfrey Visiting Professor. Hoda Shokrollahzadeh Behbahani, a postdoctoral researcher in my group, also gave a fantastic lecture on polymer upcycling. Thank you to my host, Dr. Robert Bubeck, and everyone who came to the symposium, including faculty from MSU St. Andrews, MSU East Lansing, and Central Michigan University.

As part of my trip, I also visited Dow, where I was hosted by wenwen mei, and MSU East Lansing, where I was hosted by Michael Hickner and Robert Ferrier. Thank you to all of my hosts and everyone I met throughout the trip for a great experience!

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I’m honored to be the 2025 the Turner J. Alfrey Visiting Professor and busy preparing for a set of lectures on Tuesday, June 3 in Midland, MI. The schedule for the one-day symposium is below. In addition to my four lectures, Dr. Hoda Shokrollahzadeh Behbahani, a postdoc in my group, will be traveling with me to give a lecture.

You can find a list of past Turner Alfrey Visiting Professors here: https://lnkd.in/eqzqSspQ.

I’m looking forward to seeing some old friends and meeting some new ones.

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