Polydimethylsiloxane Polymerized Emulsions for Acoustic Materials Prepared Using Reactive Triblock Copolymer Surfactants.

Porous polymers have interesting acoustic properties including wave dampening and acoustic impedance matching and may be used in numerous acoustic applications, e.g., waveguiding or acoustic cloaking.

Synthesis and Applications of Elastomeric Polymerized High Internal Phase Emulsions (PolyHIPEs).

Polymer foams (PFs) are among the most industrially produced polymeric materials, and they are found in applications including aerospace, packaging, textiles, and biomaterials. PFs are predominantly prepared using gas-blowing techniques, but PFs can also be prepared from templating techniques such as polymerized high internal phase emulsions (polyHIPEs). PolyHIPEs have many experimental design variables which control the physical, mechanical, and chemical properties of the resulting PFs.

Synthesis of patterned polyHIPE-hydrogel composite materials using thiol-ene chemistry.

Elastomeric materials combining multiple properties within a single composite are highly desired in applications including biomaterials interfaces, actuators, and soft robotics. High spatial resolution is required to impart different properties across the composite for the intended application, but many techniques used to prepare these composites rely on multistep and complex methods. There is a need for the development of simple and efficient platforms to design layered composite materials.

Hydrophilic Micro- and Macroelectrodes with Antibiofouling Properties for Biomedical Applications.

Implantable neural electrodes are generally used to record the electrical activity of neurons and to stimulate neurons in the nervous system. Biofouling triggered by inflammatory responses can dramatically affect the performance of neural electrodes, resulting in decreased signal sensitivity and consistency over time. Thus, long-term clinical applications require electrically conducting electrode materials with reduced dimensions, high flexibility, and antibiofouling properties that can reduce the degree of inflammatory reactions and increase the lifetime of neural electrodes.