Abstract:

Liquid crystalline (LC) materials provide unique molecular ordering and optical properties while maintaining fluidic properties. Recent advances offer the use of LCs as molecular templates for the synthesis of polymeric materials. Two approaches of such strategies will be presented in this talk along with their promising applications. In one approach, we will demonstrate how LC molecular templates can be used to synthesize polymeric films that provide advantageous mass transfer properties. Characterizations of the nanostructures of the polymeric films and their use in the filtration of macromolecular substances from aqueous media will be presented. In the second part, an overview of our studies that seek to broaden the methods that can provide complexity to polymeric microparticles will be presented. The synthesis strategies will be explained and the library and characterizations of the two- and three-dimensional microparticles, and progress towards detecting volatile compounds targeting concentrations in the order of 100 ppm will be demonstrated.

Short Biography of the Speaker:

Emre Bukusoglu received a Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees from Middle East Technical University (METU), Department of Chemical Engineering in 2008 and 2010, respectively. He obtained a PhD degree from Department of Chemical and Biological Tuesday, March 12th, 12:40 Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison, SB-Z14, Seminar Room USA in 2015. In 2016, he joined Department of Chemical Engineering, METU, where he is currently appointed as an Assistant Professor. His research focusses on colloidal and interfacial phenomena involving liquid crystals, self-assembly, sensors, polymers and separations.