Public Research Seminar by Advanced Materials Thrust, Function Hub - The role of loopy structures on the rheology of physical networks
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Tailoring the rheological properties of soft composites has been a thematic at the forefront of engineering research for long. A formidable challenge is understanding the role of macromolecular architecture and environment on topological constraints and the resulting network dynamics. To this end, we present two specific examples: (i) homopolymer mixtures of different architecture (notably linear and ring polymers) exhibit mutual and loopy (threading) entanglements, which dramatically affect the rheology in a non-monotonic way as a function of composition; and (ii) adding single chain nanoparticles to linear polymer matrices can also yield unsual rheology, and threading appears to be the reason. The punchline is the emerging ability to selectively tailor the rheological properties of polymeric networks by changing the entropy only.
- Education: Diploma, Chemical Engineering, NTU Athens, 1983; PhD, Chemical Engineering, Princeton Univerity, Princeton, N.J., USA, 1990.
- Employment: Mobil R&D, Paulsboro, N.J., USA (1990-1992), Metelco SA, Athens (1984, 1992), FORTH, Crete (1992-), University of Crete, Materials Science & Technology (2002-).
- Visiting Professor University of Delaware, KITP Santa Barbara, ESPCI, ETH Zurich, DTU, Université catholique de Louvain, INSA Lyon.
- Recognition: FORTH prize for basic research (2009), Weissenberg Award – European Society of Rheology (2015), Bingham Medal – The Society of Rheology (USA) - SOR (2019), Fellow, SOR (2018), Fellow APS (2019).
- European Editor Rheologica Acta (2006-2011), Associate Editor Soft Matter (2015-2021), Editor-in-Chief, Journal of Rheology (2022-).
- Publications:265 papers in peer-referred journals, 8 book chapters, 181 conference presentations (93 invited).
- Research area: Rheology of soft materials. The underlying theme is the molecular engineering of soft matter by devising strategies based on the design of model systems with adaptable molar mass, macromolecular architecture or tunable interactions and bridging polymers and colloids. Current topics include nonlinear rheometry, ring and branched polymers, supramolecular assemblies, polymeric and associating networks, soft colloidal mixtures and jammed states, nanocomposite, microrheology at extreme pressures.
- Administrative: Chairperson, Dept. of Materials Science & Technology (DMST), University of Crete (2010-2103), Chair, DMST Graduate program (2002-2007, 2014-2017).