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A team from the Johnson lab identify a design strategy that enables bifunctional scissile motifs to successfully toughen end-linked networks by establishing a topological correspondence between pendant cross-linked and end-linked architectures. This work establishes strand continuity as a mechanochemical design principle for fracture resistant materials across diverse polymer architectures. Article Link

Jafer has successfully defended his thesis, "Structure-Activity Relationships in Reactive Strand Extension Mechanophores". Congratulations Dr. Vakil!

The NSF Office of Advanced Cyberinfrastructure has awarded Prof. Heather Kulik a new allocation for the project "Developing Accurate Materials Design Strategies Across Method- and Length-Scales". That project has been awarded an allocation on the following resources: SDSC Expanse Projects Storage: 27,000.0 GB SDSC Expanse GPU: 33,089.0 GPU Hours SDSC Expanse CPU: 7,000,000.0 Core-hours Based on cost estimates provided by the resource providers, the allocation of resources awarded to this project would represent approximately $53,658 in support. Congratulations Heather and good luck with the project!

Shixuan has successfully defended his thesis, "Visible-Light-Activated Photopolymerization and Dynamic Covalent Chemistry for Adaptive Materials". Congratulations Dr. Wei!

Grace has successfully defended her thesis, "Network Toughening Strategies: Interplay of Mechanophore Reactivity, Polymer Chemistry and Network Topology". Congratulations Dr. Yao!

Zhuohong has successfully defended his thesis, "Optimizing Stability of Plant Virus-Based Nanoparticles for Applications in Agriculture and Material Advances". Congratulations Dr. Wu!

Abe has successfully defended his thesis, "Junctions and Strands: Breaking Property Tradeoffs in Polymer Networks and Composite Polymer Electrolytes". Congratulations Dr. Herzog-Arbeitman!

This award recognizes outstanding early career investigators conducting research in any area of fundamental polymer or biopolymer science. Professor Kalow will be honored during an award symposium at ACS Fall 2025 in Washington, D.C. from August 17-21. Congratulations Julia!

The NSF Office of Advanced Cyberinfrastructure has awarded Prof. Heather Kulik a new allocation for the project "Developing Accurate Materials Design Strategies Across Method- and Length-Scales". That project has been awarded an allocation on the following resources: SDSC Expanse Projects Storage: 13,465.0 GB SDSC Expanse GPU: 74,750.0 GPU Hours SDSC Expanse CPU: 4,331,520.0 Core-hours Based on cost estimates provided by the resource providers, the allocation of resources awarded to this project would represent approximately $68,319 in support. Congratulations Heather and good luck with the project!

The award recognizes and encourages accomplishments and innovation of unusual merit in the field of basic or applied polymer science. A half-day symposium will be held in Jeremiah's honor at the Spring 2025 ACS National Meeting in San Diego, CA. The award (sponsored and administered by the POLY division of the ACS) also includes a plaque, honorarium, and travel assistance to attend the spring meeting. Congratulations Jeremiah!

The award recognizes outstanding fundamental contributions and achievements in the field of polymer chemistry. Michael will be honored at the ACS National Awards Ceremony and Symposium in San Diego at the Spring Meeting in March 2025. The award (sponsored by ExxonMobil Technology and Engineering) also includes a plaque, cash prize, and travel assistance to attend the spring meeting. Congratulations Michael!

An independent study has demonstrated that because of the streamlined syntax of BigSMILES, polymer ML workflows based on BigSMILES consistently required shorter training times compared to those based on SMILES, particularly in large language model scenarios. The authors conclude that as datasets for polymer ML training grow, using BigSMILES as a representation could significantly accelerate the construction of polymer ML pipelines, whether in forward screening paradigms or inverse design paradigms. ChemRxiv Link