02/16/2022
By Kwok Fan Chow

The Kennedy College of Science, Department of Chemistry, invites you to attend a research proposal defense by Yuqing Cozzens entitled “Smart Materials Based on PNIPAM-stat-Cysteamine/Metal Oxide Nano-Composites.”

The defense will be held virtually on Friday, Feb. 25, 2022 at 9 a.m. via Zoom (Zoom Meeting ID: 834 449 3627; Passcode: 05241941)

Committee Chair: James Whitten, Chemistry Department, University of Massachusetts Lowell

Committee Members:

  • Yuyu Sun, Chemistry Department, UML
  • Mingdi Yan, Chemistry Department, UML
  • Marina Ruths, Chemistry Department, UML
  • James Whitten, Chemistry Department, UML

Abstract:
Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide), known as “PNIPAM” is a well-studied thermally responsive polymer. Above its low critical solution temperature (LCST), which is ca. 32°C, the polymer chains collapse as water is expelled due to the breaking of hydrogen bonds. The goals of the proposed work are to demonstrate that thiol-functionalized PNIPAM may be covalently linked to metal and metal oxide nanoparticles and to study the properties of the composite materials. We have demonstrated that thiol-functionalized PNIPAM may be tethered to gold nanoparticles and that irradiation with laser wavelengths that match the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) of the gold nanoparticles may be used to change the PNIPAM morphology. Modifying ZnO nanoparticles with thiol-functionalized PNIPAM has not been studied but is expected to be possible via Zn-S bond formation. ZnO is a photoluminescent (PL) metal oxide, and PL spectra of the ZnO-PNIPAM complex under a variety of conditions, including heating with and without water vapor and other gases present, will be measured. This work may have applications for smart materials and chemical sensing.

All interested students and faculty members are invited to attend.