Members of the MONET team at MIT offer a unifying review of polymer networks and showcase how a deep understanding of structure‐property relationships can lead to advanced networks with exceptional properties. Yuwei Gu, Julia Zhao, and Jeremiah A. Johnson A unifying review of polymer networks: from rubbers and gels to porous frameworks Article Li nk

Members of the MONET team at Duke have teamed up with the Russian Academy of Sciences to present a conceptual framework for adding molecular details of chain extension and force-coupled bond dissociation to the Lake–Thomas model of tear energy in rubbery crack propagation. Shu Wang, Sergey Panyukov, Michael Rubinstein, and Stephen L. Craig Quantitative Adjustment to the Molecular Energy Parameter in the Lake–Thomas Theory of Polymer Fracture Energy Article L ink

Shu Wang, former Craig & Rubinstein graduate student (and founding member of MONET) has received the Henkel Award for Outstanding Graduate Research in Polymer Science and Engineering. The award is given to recognize a graduate student or recent graduate who has completed an outstanding Ph.D. thesis in polymeric research. The award will be presented during at the American Chemical Society National Meeting in Denver, Colorado, August 21, 2024 in the ACS Division of Polymeric Materials Science and Engineering. Congratulations Shu!

Herb Wakefield and Ana Paula Kitos Vasconcelos were part of the Plastic in the Environment: Leaders and Innovators Collaborating from Australia, New Zealand, and United States (PELICANS) program. This was jointly hosted by our fellow Center for Chemical Innovation, NSF Center for Sustainable Polymers (CSP) in collaboration with Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO)

We officially welcome our newest institution to the Center today! Prof. Juana Mendenhall joins from Morehouse College at the start of Year 3. Welcome Juana!

Curt Waltmann has successfully defended his thesis, "Structure and Assembly of Macromolecular Compartments". Congratulations Dr. Waltmann!

Congratulations to Kelsie Wentz and Steven Chapman for being named Arnold O. Beckman Postdoctoral Fellowship recipients! Kelsie's awarded project in the Klausen lab is "Hybrid Inorganic-Organic Polymers with Embedded Silicon Radicals". Steven's awarded project in the Kalow lab is "Photoresponsive Cross-Linkers for Multifunctional Adaptive Materials".

Haley has successfully defended her thesis, "Synthesis, Characterization, and Theory of Polymer Gels to Elucidate Topology-Property Relationships". Congratulations Dr. Beech!

The team had a fantastic meeting in Chicago to present our progress to the review panel. We followed with a day to talk about new collaborative research opportunities.

The Olsen and Craig labs examine linear rheological properties of supramolecular polymer networks formed by mixtures of two different cross-linkers. Article Link

A collaborative effort from ten(!) MONET researchers have been selected to be featured in ACS Editors’ Choice, sponsored for immediate, open access by ACS due to its potential for the broad public interest. It is an honor given to only one article from the entire ACS portfolio each day of the year. PolyDAT: A Generic Data Schema for Polymer Characterization Tzyy-Shyang Lin, Nathan J. Rebello, Haley K. Beech, Zi Wang, Bassil El-Zaatari, David J. Lundberg, Jeremiah A. Johnson, Julia A. Kalow, Stephen L. Craig, and Bradley D. Olsen Article Link

We know now what a molecular substituent effect on reactivity might feel like to the touch, thanks to this work by Shu, Haley, and colleagues! Read all about it in a work just published in J. Am. Chem. Soc. Mechanism Dictates Mechanics: A Molecular Substituent Effect in the Macroscopic Fracture of a Covalent Polymer Network Shu Wang, Haley K. Beech, Brandon H. Bowser, Tatiana B. Kouznetsova, Bradley D. Olsen, Michael Rubinstein, and Stephen L. Craig Article Link