RSC Applied Polymers Blog

Professor Pengfei Cao (Beijing University of Chemical Technology, China), Associate Editor for RSC Applied Polymers, is delighted to share with you some of his top research highlights published in the journal so far.

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Loosely connected to his expertise in synthetic polymers for energy-related applications, here are a selection of the papers he has chosen:

Valorization of plastic waste via chemical activation and carbonization into activated carbon for functional material applications

Rachel Blanchard and Tizazu H. Mekonnen

Photopatternable, degradable, and performant polyimide network substrates for e-waste mitigation

Caleb J. Reese, Grant M. Musgrave, Jitkanya Wong, Wenyang Pan, John Uehlin, Mason Zadan, Omar M. Awartani, Thomas J. Wallin and Chen Wang

Poly(ionic liquid) ABC triblock and ABCBA pentablock terpolymer electrolytes for lithium metal batteries

Dohyun Kim, Rui Sun, Roger Tocchetto, Carl Willis, Bert Krutzer, Frederick L. Beyer and Yossef A. Elabd

Professor Cao shared a video last year to introduce himself:

Find out more about Pengfei Cao

Pengfei Cao is a full Materials Science and Engineering professor at the Beijing University of Chemical Technology (BUCT, China). After his Ph.D. in the Macro department at Case Western Reserve University, USA, he moved to Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL, USA) and had been a staff scientist since 2019. Pengfei has also been awarded the R&D 100 Award of 2021, the ACS-PMSE Young-Investigator Award of 2021 and the ACS Rising Star in Materials Science of 2023. Pengfei leads the research group of Energy-Applied Elastomers. His current research interests are synthetic elastic polymers for energy-related applications, including functional elastomers (e.g., recyclable, self-healing, impact-resistant or adhesive elastomers) and energy-storage applications (e.g., polymer electrolytes/binders and polymeric protective layers).

Discover some of Pengfei’s research published in RSC journals:

Construction of an ultrathin multi-functional polymer electrolyte for safe and stable all-solid-state batteries

Youjia Zhang, Tianhui Cheng, Shilun Gao, Hang Ding, Zhenxi Li, Lin Li, Dandan Yang, Huabin Yang and Peng-Fei Cao

Mater. Horiz., 2024. DOI: 10.1039/D4MH01037J

In situ construction of an ultra-thin and flexible polymer electrolyte for stable all-solid-state lithium-metal batteries

Shilun Gao, Mengxiang Ma, Youjia Zhang, Lin Li, Shuangshuang Zhu, Yayue He, Dandan Yang, Huabin Yang and Peng-Fei Cao

J. Mater. Chem. A, 2024. DOI: 10.1039/D3TA07586A

Polymer electrolytes with high cation transport number for rechargeable Li–metal batteries: current status and future direction

Xinyuan Shan, Zhaowei Song, Hang Ding, Lengwan Li, Yuhang Tian, Alexei P. Sokolov, Ming Tian, Kang Xu and Peng-Fei Cao

Energy Environ. Sci., 2024. DOI: 10.1039/D4EE03097D

RSC Applied Polymers

Offers you an impactful platform for research focusing on the application of polymers, both natural and synthetic.

Read the latest issues online here a find out more by visiting our webpage or contacting our Editorial Office by email.

Make sure you never miss an update – sign up for our e-alerts and follow us on X, Bluesky and LinkedIn.

Professor Emily Pentzer (Texas A&M University, US), Editor-in-Chief for RSC Applied Polymers, is delighted to share with you some of her top research highlights published in the journal so far.

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Below is a selection of the papers she has chosen:

Radical polymers in optoelectronic and spintronic applications

Hyunki Yeo, Suman Debnath, Baiju P. Krishnan and Bryan W. Boudouris

Tuning the thermal response of 3D-printed bilayer hydrogels via architectural control using binary ethanol–water solvent systems

Francis Klincewicz, Subhash Kalidindi and LaShanda T. J. Korley

Creation of three-dimensional composite architectures via high-intensity focused ultrasound inside of foams

Chang-Uk Lee, Jianxun Cui, Hridyesh R. Tewani, Pavana Prabhakar and Andrew J. Boydston

Professor Pentzer shared a video last year to introduce herself:

Find out more about Emily Pentzer

Emily Pentzer is a full Professor of Chemistry and Materials Science and Engineering at Texas A&M University. Her research centres on developing new polymeric materials and assemblies as a route to understanding structure-property-application relationships and access functions not possible with current state-of-the-art systems. Her group works on the encapsulation of “active” liquids and gases, designing and synthesizing new polymer chemistries, and developing feedstocks for additive manufacturing to produce multifunctional materials.

She received a Young Investigator Award from the Polymeric Materials Science and Engineering (PMSE) Division of the American Chemical Society (ACS) in 2017, the Rising Star Award in 2019 from the ACS Women’s Chemist Committee, and the Faculty Diversity Excellence Award from Case Western Reserve University in 2019. She was named a Texas A&M Presidential Impact Fellow in 2021 and a finalist for the Blavatnik Award in physical sciences and engineering in 2022. She served as an Associate Editor for Polymer Chemistry from 2015 – 2023.

Discover some of Emily’s research published in RSC journals

Direct ink writing of polyimide aerogels for battery thermal mitigation

Ciera E. Cipriani, Donald A. Dornbusch, Stephanie L. Vivod and Emily B. Pentzer

RSC Appl. Polym., 2024. DOI: 10.1039/D3LP00200D

Microcapsule fabrication by ATRP at the interface of non-aqueous emulsions

Nicholas C. Starvaggi, Chase B. Somodi, Eliandreina Cruz Barrios, Patrick J. Shamberger and Emily B. Pentzer

Chem. Commun., 2024. DOI: 10.1039/D4CC00736K

Bridging polymer architecture, printability, and properties by digital light processing of block copolycarbonates

Krista G. Schoonover, Chia-Min Hsieh, Mani Sengoden, Naushad Ahmed, Manivannan Sivaperuman Kalairaj, Taylor H. Ware, Donald J. Darensbourg, Emily B. Pentzer and Peiran Wei

Chem. Sci., 2024. DOI: 10.1039/D4SC04593A

RSC Applied Polymers

Offers you an impactful platform for research focusing on the application of polymers, both natural and synthetic.

Read the latest issues online here a find out more by visiting our webpage or contacting our Editorial Office by email.

Make sure you never miss an update – sign up for our e-alerts and follow us on X, Bluesky and LinkedIn.

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:

Sustainable Development Goal 6: Clean Water and Sanitation 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