RSC Applied Polymers Blog

To celebrate the growth and development of the RSC Applied Polymers community and to highlight the remarkable authors who continue to contribute their high quality work to the journal we would like to share the opinions and insights of these authors through this introductory blog post. Once dubbed #RSCAppliedfirst50, our blog posts aim to give a voice to the authors behind the research and hope that their insights might shed light upon growing challenges and progress in polymer science and its applications.

In this edition, we hear from Professor Seth C. Rasmussen in a short interview about their study ‘Sidechain engineering in poly(2,3-alkylthieno[3,4-b]pyrazine)s via GRIM polymerization: Solubility, film formation, and device performance’

An introduction to ‘Sidechain engineering in poly(2,3-alkylthieno[3,4-b]pyrazine)s via GRIM polymerization: Solubility, film formation, and device performance’ by Professor Seth C. Rasmussen

How would you summarise the direction of your research presented in your paper?

This paper was focused on improving the solution processability of poly(thieno[3,4-b]pyrazine)s, which are a class of low bandgap (E_g < 1.5 eV) polymers with bandgaps down to 0.7 eV. Prior to this work, the best example of these materials was poly(2,3-dihexylthieno[3,4-b]pyrazine) produced via GRIM polymerization, which is a type of polymerization via Ni-catalyzed Kumada coupling. The work here produced high quality analogues that utilized branched 2-ethylhexyl sidechains instead of the previous simple straight-chain hexyl groups. As hoped, this significantly increased the processability and film formation properties of the polymer, along with significantly improved device performance, although it did not result in greater molecular weights as expected. As a result, this led to a new understanding of the polymerization method used to generate these materials and a newly proposed catalyst poisoning mechanism that accounts for all of the results produced to date.

What had inspired you to research into conjugated polymers for photodetectors?

Due to the very low bandgaps of poly(thieno[3,4-b]pyrazine)s (i.e., E_g = 0.9-1.1 eV for processable species), these are ill suited for conventional photovoltaic devices (solar cells). This is due to the Shockley-Queisser limit, which predicts that as the polymer bandgap diminishes below about 1.34 eV, more and more absorbed energy is lost to heat, and the device efficiency will decrease as a consequence. However, our earliest devices exhibited photo response down to 1200-1300 nm, which is something that only a few conjugated polymers can do. As such, this naturally led to applications in NIR photodetectors. Unlike conventional photovoltaic devices, NIR photodetectors are less dependent on power conversion efficiency (PCE) and their effectiveness is determined more by what wavelengths can be detected and the corresponding detectivity (D*(l)) at those wavelengths. As such, this is a natural fit for these materials, as this most recent paper aptly demonstrates. NIR photodetectors are critical to optical communications, remote control, night time surveillance, and medical monitoring, and the ability to make such devices from organic plastics offers possibilities not possible with conventional inorganic materials.

What aspect of your work on conjugated organic materials are you most excited about at the moment?

Much of our focus over the last several years has involved our discovery that the conjugated building block theino[3,4-b]pyrazine (TP) is not a simple acceptor unit as has been commonly believed. While it does have a low lying LUMO and does act as a strong acceptor, it also has a high lying HOMO and provides a donor strength roughly equivalent to 3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene (EDOT). As such, we have proposed the term ambipolar unit to such species that simultaneously act as both donors and acceptors. Not only has this new insight into its electronic properties finally allowed a deeper understanding of the trends observed in donor-acceptor (D-A) frameworks utilizing TP as the acceptor, but has also led to the understanding that even TP homopolymers such as those reported in the current paper are also technically D-A frameworks, with the thiophene acting as the donor and the pyrazine the acceptor. Furthermore, this has also opened up completely new design paradigms for low bandgap polymers, as demonstrated by our research work utilizing TP as the donor and pairing it with traditional acceptors to generate polymers with bandgaps of ca. 1 eV and deep LUMO levels (ca. -3.8 to -3.9 eV) (10.1039/d5tc00519a). The more we can do to advance our fundamental understanding of the various species utilized to produce conjugated polymers, the more effectively the field as a whole can move forward to further develop more advanced materials.

In your opinion, what are the most important questions to be asked/answered in your field of research?

In our view, one of the most important issues in the field of conjugated materials is the growing synthetic complexity of current state of the art materials. The field as a whole has made great strides in the production of high-performance materials capable of ever-increasing device performance, yet this has been coupled with significant increases in the structural and synthetic complexity of the materials applied. Many of these materials can be composed of three or more different monomeric units, with the total synthesis requiring multiple sequential steps to control the desired order of monomer connectivity, as well as any potential regiochemistry involved, resulting in as much as 10+ synthetic steps for their production. As such, the important question to be asked is can high-performance materials be produced with more reasonable levels of synthetic complexity? This is critical as current trends have resulted in materials that are far to costly to make for commercial viability. While we personally feel that this is possible, it will require a shift in viewpoint within the field such that device performance is not the sole focus of research efforts, with greater emphasis also placed on the practical synthetic accessibility and scale of the materials involved. As a representative example, the poly(thieno[3,4-b]pyrazine) reported in the current paper has a calculated synthetic complexity index of 35.8, while the bulk of the other top-performing materials capable of NIR detection beyond 1000 nm have significantly higher values of 75.1-92.5. While our material is not the best performer, it is still among the best and demonstrates that high-performing materials are possible with significantly lower synthetic complexity and thus reduced production costs.

Seth C Rasmussen

Seth C. Rasmussen is Professor of Chemistry at North Dakota State University (NDSU). Educated at Washington State University (B.S. 1990) and Clemson University (Ph.D. 1994 with John Petersen), he then worked as a postdoc with James Hutchison at the University of Oregon. He became an instructor at Oregon in 1997, before moving to NDSU in 1999. Professor Rasmussen also spent the spring of 2018 as a Fulbright Senior Scholar and visiting professor at the Centre for Organic Electronics of the University of Newcastle, Australia. At NDSU, he has developed extensive research on the synthesis and design of conjugated materials, particularly those with low (E_g < 1.5 eV) and reduced (E_g = 1.5-2.0 eV) bandgaps. As a noted chemist-historian, he also studies the history of materials and is considered the leading authority on the history of conjugated polymers. He was named a Fellow of the American Chemical Society in 2021, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry in 2022, and his work in history was recognized with the 2025 Joseph B. Lambert HIST Award for Outstanding Achievement in the History of Chemistry.

Spencer J. Gilman

Spencer J. Gilman earned his B.S. in chemistry from St. Cloud State University in 2018 and his Ph.D. from North Dakota State University in 2024 under the guidance of Seth Rasmussen, where his dissertation focused on the synthesis and characterization of conjugated materials for near-infrared emitters and photodetectors. He is currently a postdoctoral researcher at the Georgia Institute of Technology under the mentorship of John Reynolds, specializing in conjugated materials with a focus on electrochromics and postpolymerization modification.

Nicolas Nicolaidis

Nicolas Nicolaidis completed his PhD thesis focussed on the optical properties of organic photovoltaics and upscaling their production in 2015 with the Centre for Organic Electronics, supervised by Prof. Paul Dastoor. On completion, he continued to work in the group on industrial projects and continuing to scale up the technology. He typically provides support and expertise to equipment to characterise solar materials such as the UV-vis spectrometer, fluorimeter, AM1.5 solar simulator, and an external quantum efficiency measurement system. In upscaling the organic photovoltaic devices, he has been significantly involved in mechanical prototyping, electronic design, and software design to successfully deliver large projects with international impact and significance.

Tomas Marsh

Tomas Marsh is a Ph.D. student at the University of Newcastle, Australia, working with the Centre for Organic Electronics. He also obtained his Bachelor of Science with Honours there in 2021. His research focuses on optimisation of organic photovoltaics and applications of ultrafast spectroscopy.

Paul Dastoor

Paul Dastoor is Professor of Physics at the University of Newcastle in Australia. He received his B.A. degree in Natural Sciences and his PhD in Surface Physics from the University of Cambridge. He is Director of the Centre for Organic Electronics, which he established in 2007. He has been Visiting Research Fellow at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge, UK, at the Daresbury Laboratory, Cheshire, UK at Nanyang Technological University and Leverhulme Visiting Professor at the University of Cambridge. He is currently the Royal Society Wolfson Visiting Fellow at the University of Cambridge and Visiting Fellow at Fitzwilliam College and Clare Hall College, Cambridge. His research interests encompass the growth and properties of thin films, neutral atom microscopy and organic electronic devices based on semi-conducting polymers. These exciting materials offer the tantalising prospect of paints that generate electricity directly from sunlight and sensors that can be printed as flexible arrays.

Sidechain engineering in poly(2,3-alkylthieno[3,4-b]pyrazine)s via GRIM polymerization: Solubility, film formation, and device performance

Spencer J. Gilman, Nicolas C. Nicolaidis, Tomas J. Marsh, Paul C. Dastoor and Seth C. Rasmussen

RSC Appl. Polym., 2025, Advance Article

RSC Applied Polymers is a leading international journal for the application of polymers, including experimental and computational studies on both natural and synthetic systems. In this journal, you can discover cross-disciplinary scientific research that leverages polymeric materials in a range of applications. This includes high impact advances made possible with polymers across materials, biology, energy applications and beyond.

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Meet the authors of ‘Tuning Solvent Strength Can Fractionate PVC into Ultra-low Molecular Weight Material with Low Dispersity’

10 Mar 2025

$Graphical abstract: Tuning solvent strength can fractionate PVC into ultra-low molecular weight material with low dispersity$

In this edition, we hear from Dr. Ali Al Alshaikh about their study ‘Tuning Solvent Strength Can Fractionate PVC into Ultra-low Molecular Weight Material with Low Dispersity’.

An introduction to ‘Tuning Solvent Strength Can Fractionate PVC into Ultra-low Molecular Weight Material with Low Dispersity’ by Dr. Ali Al Alshaikh

In this recently published paper, we explore a solvent-based approach to fractionate poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) into products with specific molecular weight distributions, which may create new opportunities for chemical recycling. Traditional thermomechanical recycling of PVC waste of mixed and/or unknown composition is highly challenging due to complex formulations and the risk of polymer degradation during processing. In this work, we show that solvent-based fractionation can selectively dissolve specific molecular weight ranges of PVC while removing additives without any apparent degradation.

By adjusting the non-solvent (methanol) content, we fine-tune the solvent strength to control the molecular weight of the recovered PVC fractions. Using fractionation, we managed to produce PVC fractions of ultra-low molecular weight and dispersity. We also showed that this method can successfully recover near-pristine PVC via semi-selective removal of soluble additives in the early fractions (high methanol content).

How does the formation of ultra-low-density materials from PVC change prospects within the field of recycling plastics?

The recovery of ultra-low molecular weight fractions seems to be unique to PVC among other commodity plastics (the others being PET, HDPE, LDPE, PP, and PS) that comprise recycling identification codes (RIC) 1-6. The enhanced solubility of these ultra-low molecular weight fractions can allow PVC to be used in new and unique ways, including chemical modification of PVC, and in 3D printing.

Where do you see your own research going in future?

Because this work has immediate relevance in real recycling applications, we plan to continue to develop and optimize the process of solvent-based fractionation of PVC using green solvents. Highly efficient recovery of solvents will be key to process economics. We also plan to expand our efforts to tackle mixed PVC waste and look for opportunities to directly utilize the additives that are recovered and/or break them down into smaller molecules that can be repurposed.

What aspect of your work are you most excited about at the moment?

The most exciting thing about our work at the moment is the discussion on the recyclability of PVC. Amongst the most common plastics, it is the least recycled. However, this does not mean that it is not recyclable. The reasons behind the lack of recycling are many, and to be fair, a large portion of it goes back to the rarity (by weight) in PVC’s presence in waste currently. Yet, the interest in research in PVC’s recyclability has grown recently, be it via dissolution or chemical means. These works showed that not only is PVC recyclable, but there are many new opportunities for chemistry and materials science when considering the advantageous and unique solubility of the ultra-low molecular weight PVC fractions that can be obtained through our process.

In your opinion, what are the most important questions to be asked/answered in the field of recycling plastics?

There isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach to plastics recycling, so we must think more about ways to make collection and sorting more efficient but also more convenient for end-users to return specific plastics (perhaps with incentives). This could help reduce some of the challenges associated with recycling mixed plastics. Ideally, all plastic materials would bear a “molecular barcode” within their structures that provided information about their identity, additives, and origin so that recycling could be made much more efficient, but that may be more of a wish than a near-term reality.

What do you find most challenging about your research?

Anyone who does research on polymers will tell you that polymers don’t always behave the way you think they will! We encountered more than a few unexpected obstacles on our path to get where we are today with our research in PVC recycling. The most important thing we have found is to always observe, ask questions, and learn!

Ali Alshaikh

Dr. Ali Al Alshaikh is a postdoctoral researcher in the Dept. of Chemical & Biological Engineering at the University of Alabama. His work focuses on polymer chemistry, specifically the upcycling and recycling of plastics, with a particular emphasis on PVC. Ali’s discoveries have shown some of the unique potential of PVC as a versatile material that can be recycled, processed, and modified.

Jaewoo Choi

Jaewoo Choi obtained his Bachelor’s degree from Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology in 2023 and is currently pursuing a PhD at the University of Alabama. As a second-year graduate student, his research focuses on the post-consumer processing and upcycling of chlorinated plastics.

Feranmi Victor Olowookere

Feranmi Victor Olowookere is a Ph.D. candidate in Chemical Engineering at the University of Alabama, working under the guidance of Dr. Heath Turner. His research focuses on developing computational frameworks (e.g., atomistic and coarse-grained molecular dynamics, and kinetic Monte Carlo methods) for molecular modeling of solvated polymers, such as PVC, and their chemical transformations to advance plastic waste upcycling.

Jason Bara

Dr. Jason Bara is a Professor in the Dept. of Chemical & Biological Engineering at the University of Alabama. He received a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Virginia Commonwealth University and a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Colorado – Boulder. He has authored more than 170 peer-reviewed research publications on the topics of separations, ionic liquids and green solvents, polymer membranes, and recycling/depolymerization of plastic waste. He has also been awarded 17 U.S. patents for new technologies developed in these areas.

Tuning solvent strength can fractionate PVC into ultra-low molecular weight material with low dispersity

Ali Al Alshaikh, Jaewoo Choi, Feranmi V. Olowookere, Caira McClairen, Owen G. Lubic, Pravin S. Shinde, C. Heath Turner and Jason E. Bara

RSC Appl. Polym., 2025, Advance Article

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Hear from the authors of ‘3D Printable Polymer Foams with Tunable Expansion and Mechanical Properties Enabled by Catalyst-Free Dynamic Covalent Chemistry’

19 Feb 2025

Hear from our authors: Rebecca M. Johnson and Ariel R. Tolfree

In this edition, we hear from Rebecca Johnson and Ariel Tolfree, about their study entitled ‘3D Printable Polymer Foams with Tunable Expansion and Mechanical Properties Enabled by Catalyst-Free Dynamic Covalent Chemistry’

An introduction to ‘3D Printable Polymer Foams with Tunable Expansion and Mechanical Properties Enabled by Catalyst-Free Dynamic Covalent Chemistry’ by Rebecca Johnson and Ariel Tolfree

Thermoset foams are everywhere—from cushioning materials to high-performance insulation—but their processing methods make shaping them into complex designs a challenge. 3D printing has emerged as a powerful solution, allowing for the fabrication of intricate, customizable architectures that can expand on demand through a post-processing thermal treatment. However, traditional foams face a trade-off: increasing crosslinking improves mechanical strength but limits expansion, while reducing crosslinking allows for more expansion but weakens the material.

Our recent work overcomes this limitation by incorporating dynamic phosphodiester bonds into 3D-printed polymers embedded with closed-cell foaming microspheres. These dynamic bonds enhance the foaming process, enabling greater expansion without sacrificing structural integrity. The result? Stronger, more resilient foams with improved energy dissipation and durability. Not only do these materials perform effectively both before and after foaming, but they also offer a sustainable advantage—their dynamic nature makes them recyclable and reusable across multiple lifecycles.

Looking ahead, we’re exploring bio-based alternatives to further improve sustainability and conducting deeper studies on how the polymer network influences foam behaviour. By pushing the boundaries of 3D-printed thermoset foams, we aim to unlock new possibilities for high-performance, adaptable materials.

Rebecca M. Johnson

Rebecca Johnson

Rebecca Johnson is a Ph.D. candidate in the Smaldone Lab at the University of Texas at Dallas. Her research focuses on advanced materials for 3D printing, incorporating dynamic covalent chemistry (DCC) to develop recyclable, reprocessable, and high-performance polymer systems. She explores polymer composites, thermally expandable foams, MOF-polymer composites, bio-based resins, and porous polymer fabrication methods such as polymerization-induced phase separation (PIPS) and polymerized high internal phase emulsions (polyHIPEs).

Ariel R. Tolfree

Ariel Tolfree

Ariel Tolfree is a Ph.D. student in the Smaldone Lab at the University of Texas at Dallas. Her research focuses on advanced polymer systems for 3D printing, emphasizing improved material performance, isotropy, and functionality. She investigates the role of dynamic covalent chemistry (DCC) in enabling smart materials, such as mechanophores, for damage detection and self-healing, while also developing thermally expandable foams for lightweight, high-performance structures. Her work focuses on thermoset systems, combining polymer chemistry with additive manufacturing techniques.

‘3D Printable Polymer Foams with Tunable Expansion and Mechanical Properties Enabled by Catalyst-Free Dynamic Covalent Chemistry’

Rebecca M. Johnson, Ariel R. Tolfree, Gustavo Felicio Perruci, Lyndsay C. Ayers, Niyati Arora, Emma E. Liu, Vijayalakshmi Ganesh, Hongbing Lu and Ronald A. Smaldone.

RSC Appl. Polym., 2025, Advance Article. DOI: 10.1039/D4LP00374H

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Meet the authors of ‘Polymer electrolytes: evolution, challenges, and future directions for lithium-ion batteries’

19 Feb 2025

In this edition, we hear from Professor Achalkumar Ammathnadu Sudhakar, about their study entitled ‘Polymer electrolytes: evolution, challenges, and future directions for lithium-ion batteries’

An introduction to ‘Polymer electrolytes: evolution, challenges, and future directions for lithium-ion batteries’ by Professor Achalkumar Ammathnadu Sudhakar.

Electrolytes are indispensable in the field of energy storage and generation. Polymer electrolytes form an important class of electrolytes due to their unique properties, like ionic conductivity, electrochemical stability, thermal stability and mechanical strength. In the quest for ideal polymer electrolyte, the influence of the dielectric constant and temperature over the ionic conductivity of the polymer electrolytes are the important factors. In this review, various ion transport models, ion conduction mechanisms and various characterization techniques to evaluate the essential properties of the polymer electrolytes are discussed.

How does the application of polymers for electrodes change prospects within the field of lithium-ion batteries?

Conventional lithium-ion batteries (LIB) came a long way in realizing e-mobility, since their discovery. However, there is still scope for the improvement, which will realise its deep penetration into the daily life. Dendrite formation is observed in the case of liquid electrolytes poses a serious risk, whereas solid polymer electrolytes can be an alternative to avoid this and also they are not inflammable. Such polymer electrolytes can be synthesized as per the requirement or can be derived from natural polymers. Thus the shift from LIB to lithium polymer (Li-pol) batteries can have many benefits in terms of cost reduction, reduced toxicity, synthetic tunability and ease of handling. This may also provide options to replace lithium with other earth abundant elements like sodium, magnesium and aluminium.

Where do you see your own research going in future?

I am quite excited about ionic liquid crystalline polymer electrolytes for LIBs. This will be a combination of various research themes and combination of different expertise and hence the results will be promising and can elevate the research to the next level. If the solid polymer electrolytes are self-organized in liquid crystalline phases, then they can do their job very efficiently and here we want to make an impact.

What aspect of your work are you most excited about at the moment?

We are exploring variety of molecular structures and trying to harness the power of synthetic chemistry in achieving functional materials and realizing their potential in organic electronic devices. Further the application of ionic liquid crystalline elastomers and polymers for different applications related batteries is another aspect which we are excited about.

In your opinion, what are the most important questions to be asked/answered in the field of energy storage?

In my opinion, reducing the cost in energy harvest, storage, transport as well as reducing the impact of alternative energy sources on the environment is the biggest question we need to answer. Research needs to be done in making the renewable energy sources competitive with fossil fuels.

Ramprashanth S

Ramprashanth S

Ram Prasanth S is a young researcher, received his MS(R) degree in Polymer science and technology from Indian Institute of technology, Guwahati in 2024. In 2022, he completed a Bachelor’s in Rubber and Plastics technology from Madras Institute of technology campus, Anna university. His research interests include novel polymeric materials for energy storage applications, Polymer Chemistry and polymeric smart materials.

Dr Varatharajan Prasannaven

Dr Varatharajan Prasannavenkadesan

Varatharajan Prasannavenkadesan is a post-doctoral fellow with Prof. Vimal Katiyar at the Centre of Sustainable Polymers, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, India. His expertise includes computational modeling, polymer materials, and materials characterization. His research focuses on the development and optimization of polymer-based materials, with contributions to advancing knowledge in sustainable materials for engineering applications.

Professor Vimal Katiyar

Professor Vimal Katiyar

Dr. Vimal Katiyar is currently a Professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering and the Centre for Sustainable Polymers at the Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, India. He is also an Honorary Senior Fellow at the Kyoto Institute of Technology, Kyoto, Japan, a Visiting Professor at GIFU University, Japan, and has been honored as Chair Professor at Numaligarh Refinery Limited & Hindustan Gums Co. Limited. His primary research areas include sustainable polymer development, sustainable food packaging, and the structure-property relationship of polymers. His work also focuses on rheological aspects, migration studies, toxicological effects, polymer degradation, polymer-based nanomaterials, food packaging, and clean and green energy technologies. Dr. Katiyar has published over 160 peer-reviewed research articles in highly reputed journals, more than 250 conference papers, and 90 book chapters.

Prof. Achalkumar Ammathnadu Sudhakar

Professor Achalkumar Ammathnadu Sudhakar

Achalkumar Ammathnadu Sudhakar is working as a full professor at the Department of Chemistry, IIT Guwahati from 2019, where he leads the Soft Matter Research Group. He is also associated with the Centre for Sustainable Polymers at IIT Guwahati. He has been the recipient of Indian Liquid Crystal Society Silver Medal 2019, CRS Silver Medal 2023, Fellow of Royal Society of Chemistry and Fellow of Indian Chemical Society for his research achievements. He is serving as an Associate Editor for prestigious journals – Materials Advances and Journal of Materials Chemistry C of Royal Society of Chemistry from 2023. His research interests fall in the broad area of liquid crystals, supramolecular chemistry, functional polymers, organogels and self-assembled organic semiconductors. He has published around 106 papers, 8 conference papers, 3 patents and 3 book chapters.

Polymer electrolytes: evolution, challenges, and future directions for lithium-ion batteries

Ram Prasanth S , Varatharajan Prasannavenkadesan , Vimal Katiyar and Achalkumar Ammathnadu Sudhakar

RSC Appl. Polym., 2025, Advance Article. DOI: 10.1039/D4LP00325J

Graphical abstract: Polymer electrolytes: evolution, challenges, and future directions for lithium-ion batteries

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Welcoming Professor Ho Bum Park to the RSC Applied Polymers Editorial Board

29 Jan 2025

By Rosie Hague, Editorial Assistant.

We are delighted to welcome Professor Ho Bum Park (Hanyang University, Republic of Korea) to the Editorial Board of RSC Applied Polymers as a new Associate Editor. He will be handling papers in the journal related to applications of polymeric membranes.

Meet Professor Ho Bum Park

Ho Bum Park is a full professor of Energy Engineering at Hanyang University, Republic of Korea, where he currently serves as Chair of the department. He received his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from HYU in 2002 and was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Texas at Austin from 2005 to 2008. Since 2008, he has established a state-of-the-art research laboratory for advanced membrane research. He has published more than 200 peer-reviewed SCI papers, contributed 10 book chapters, and filed more than 110 patents. He has served on the Board of Directors of the Membrane Society of Korea for 17 years. He has organized many international and national conferences and served as an editorial board member of five scientific journals related to chemical engineering and materials science and engineering.

He currently leads a multidisciplinary research group focusing on the rapid and selective transport of small molecules and ions in a variety of novel membrane materials including polymers, nanomaterials and inorganic materials for carbon dioxide separation, desalination, fuel cell and battery applications. He is the recipient of numerous awards including the HYU Distinguished Research Fellow Award (2016), MSIP National Excellent Research Award (Ministry of Science, ICT, and Future Planning) (2014), HYU Outstanding Teachers Award (2013), MOST National Outstanding Research Award (Ministry of Science and Technology) (2007), and Outstanding Young Scientist Award (North American Membrane Society) (2007).

Discover some of Ho Bum Park’s membrane-related research published in RSC journals:

Advances in high permeability polymeric membrane materials for CO2 separations
Ho Bum Park et al.
Energy Environ. Sci., 2012, DOI: 10.1039/C1EE02668B

High-performance CO2-philic graphene oxide membranes under wet-conditions
Ho Bum Park et al.
ChemComm, 2014. DOI: 10.1039/C4CC06207H

Metal–organic frameworks grown on a porous planar template with an exceptionally high surface area: promising nanofiller platforms for CO2 separation
Ho Bum Park et al.
J. Mater. Chem. A., 2017. DOI: 10.1039/C7TA06049A

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Introducing the ‘Sustainable Development Goal 6: Clean Water and Sanitation’ ongoing collection, featuring papers from across RSC Applied Polymers and RSC Applied Interfaces

29 Nov 2024

Sustainable Development Goal 6: Clean Water and Sanitation

RSC Applied Polymers and RSC Applied Interfaces are pleased to announce the launch of a new addition to the series of themed collections in support of the Global Sustainable Development Goals initiated by the United Nations.

These collections highlight the current research taking place by scientists across the globe which demonstrates the ways in which chemical science is helping to make the world a better place.

RSC Applied Polymers and RSC Applied Interfaces are delighted to share the new collection centred around:

This SDG collection focuses on Sustainable Development Goal 6: Clean Water and Sanitation. Articles in this collection showcase the efforts of our chemical scientists in meeting this global need, from providing innovative measures to detect and extract harmful chemicals from the worlds water sources, to developing sustainable methods in sanitation and waste management.

Don’t forget that RSC Applied Polymers and RSC Applied Interfaces are both Gold open access journals, that means all our articles are free to read, including our new Sustainable Development Goals collections! The highly applied and interdisciplinary work included in these collections serve as a perfect example of the kind of papers we would like to see more of in RSC Applied Interfaces and RSC Applied Polymers.

Currently working towards one of the UN global sustainability goals? Submit your manuscript to RSC Applied Polymers or RSC Applied Interfaces to have it included in this ongoing collection!

Please check the journal websites for scope and submission details.

We hope you enjoy reading from our new sustainable development goals collections.

Keep an eye out for our other Sustainable Development Goals collections.

Sustainable Development Goal 3: Good Health and Wellbeing

Sustainable Development Goal 7: Affordable and Clean Energy

Sustainable Development Goal 12: Responsible Production and Consumption

These collections are not curated in affiliation with the United Nations but are representative of Royal Society of Chemistry’s support for the Global Sustainability Goals initiated by the United Nations.

To find out more about the United Nations Global Sustainability Goals visit https://sdgs.un.org

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Meet the authors of ‘Advancements in Polymer Nanoconfinement: Tailoring Material Properties for Advanced Technological Applications’

15 Nov 2024

Advancements in polymer nanoconfinement: tailoring material properties for advanced technological applications

To celebrate the growth and development of the RSC Applied Polymers community and to highlight the remarkable authors who continue to contribute their high quality work to the journal we would like to share the opinions and insights of these authors through this introductory blog post. Once dubbed #RSCAppliedfirst50, our blog posts aim to give a voice to the authors behind the research and hope that their insights might shed light upon growing challenges and progress in polymer science and its applications.

In this edition, we hear from Dr John Maiz and Dr. Alberto Alvarez-Fernandez about their study entitled ‘Advancements in Polymer Nanoconfinement: Tailoring Material Properties for Advanced Technological Applications’

An introduction to ‘Advancements in Polymer Nanoconfinement: Tailoring Material Properties for Advanced Technological Applications’ by Dr John Maiz and Dr. Alberto Alvarez-Fernandez.

This work provides a comprehensive overview of how nanoconfinement impacts polymer properties, highlighting how these confined environments enable the creation of materials with enhanced mechanical strength, thermal stability, and optoelectronic functionality. Furthermore, the study delves into emerging trends and future directions in polymer confinement, identifying key advancements and potential applications that will drive the field forward.

What kind of changes can you observe in the properties of confined polymers, and how do these changes benefit technological applications?

Confinement leads to several notable changes in polymer properties: it can increase the stiffness and toughness of materials, improve their thermal stability, and modify their optical and electronic characteristics. For example, one-dimensional (1D) confinement in block copolymers (BCPs) enables highly ordered, self-assembled structures with distinct optical properties, suitable for advanced optical devices like metamaterials and Bragg reflectors. In electronic applications, confinement improves charge transport and crystal alignment, critical for semiconductors and piezoelectric devices. These tailored properties make confined polymers ideal for high-performance applications in fields like photonics, flexible electronics, and energy devices.

Can you talk about some specific applications where confined polymers have made significant advances?

Confined polymers have shown significant advancements in various research fields. To highlight some of the examples presented in our work we can cite:

Optical Metamaterials and Bragg Reflectors: Confined BCPs are used to create materials with tuneable refractive indices and anti-reflective coatings. These have already been applied to optical sensors, displays, and advanced lenses.
Ferroelectric Sensors: Nanoconfined ferroelectric polymers, such as poly(vinylidene fluoride) PVDF in 1D fibers, exhibit enhanced piezoelectric properties, enabling high-sensitivity sensors and wearable electronics.
Thermoelectric and Phase Change Materials: Confining thermoelectric polymers enhances thermal conductivity control, essential for energy-harvesting devices and thermal storage.

Looking at the future, what emerging trends do you see in confined polymers?

The future of polymer confinement research is highly promising, with trends focusing on developing more complex and multifunctional nanostructures. New techniques in scalable nanofabrication, such as three-dimensional (3D) printing combined with nanoimprint lithography, are likely to advance industrial applications. Additionally, there is increasing interest in creating responsive polymer systems that react to environmental changes, such as temperature or pH, for applications in smart coatings, drug delivery, and self-healing materials. Leveraging artificial intelligence and machine learning to predict polymer behaviour in confined environments could also accelerate material design, leading to breakthroughs in sustainable energy, biomedicine, and next-generation electronics.

Finally, could you share with us some of the future directions your research group is currently exploring?

We are currently studying the influence of various nanoconfinement strategies, along with other factors such as polymer chain topology and molecular composition, on the electronic properties and dynamics of high-dipolar polymeric systems. Moreover, thanks to our expertise in advanced characterization techniques such as neutron and X-ray scattering, atomic force microscopy, and dielectric spectroscopy, among others we are also exploring applications in lithography, sensing, and self-healing vitrimeric systems.

Jon Maiz

Dr. Jon Maiz

Jon Maiz is a Ramon y Cajal and Ikerbasque Research Fellow at the Centro de Fisica de Materiales (CFM) (CSIC-UPV/EHU) – Materials Physics Center (MPC) in Donostia-San Sebastian, Spain. His research focuses on elucidating the critical roles of structure and dynamics in the development of advanced polymer materials, including block copolymers, dipolar glass polymers, and vitrimer-like systems, for energy-related applications.

Alberto Alvarez-Fernandez

Dr. Alberto Alvarez-Fernandez

Alberto Alvarez Fernandez is a Gipuzkoa Fellow researcher at the Centro de Fisica de Materiales (CFM) (CSIC-UPV/EHU) – Materials Physics Center (MPC) at Donostia-San Sebastian (Spain). His research interests include the development of complex architectures based on block copolymer self-assembly for sensing and optical applications, as well as the study of phenomena such as drug delivery and lipidic membrane interactions.

Alberto Alvarez-Fernandez and Jon Maiz

RSC Appl. Polym., 2024, Advance Article. DOI: 10.1039/D4LP00234B