Current Position: Assistant Professor, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Ohio State University

Ph.D. Institution: Rice University (Adviser: Matteo Pasquali)

E-mail: [email protected]

Princeton Postdoctoral Research:

The monomer sequence of both synthetic and biological soft matter has been shown to play a critical role in material phase behavior. In synthetic systems, tapering or reverse tapering of interfaces between block copolymers has been shown to improve polymer compatibility, which affects bulk polymer morphology. In biological systems, the sequence of intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs) directly influences liquid-liquid phase separation and the formation of biocondensates. Recent work has used coarse-grained molecular simulations to demonstrate that small changes in sequence of IDPs at fixed overall chain composition, particularly at the end of the chain, can profoundly impact the solution phase behavior of these molecules. Here, we aim to make connections between the liquid-liquid phase behavior of IDPs and that for synthetic macromolecules. Anionic polymerization will be used to synthesize copolymers of isoprene and styrene with similar molecular weight, polydispersity, and overall composition but small changes (~5%) in monomer sequence. The overall molecular weight will be held constant at 100 kg/mol and the overall composition was held constant at a 50/50 weight fraction of styrene to isoprene. The sequence of the polymers will be altered by placing 5 kg/mol blocks of styrene or isoprene homopolymer at the end or middle of a random copolymer chain. The phase behavior of the synthesized polymers will be studied using dynamic light scattering. Furthermore, the Tg of the bulk polymers will be studied to examine sequence effects.