Shape-Dependent Polymer Degradation
Overview: The accessibility of polymeric materials has led to their widespread use in addressing diverse global challenges from food preservation to light transportation and affordable medical devices. Polymer structure can be tuned in a variety of ways to target desired outcomes, such as the length or composition of the material. One overlooked aspect of polymer structure is its shape itself. For this project, we are investigating how polymer shape influences its degradation. We recently showed that the shape of a polymer can accelerate its degradation by an order of magnitude when solubilized as a liquid. We now wish to study whether the same relationship will hold when degrading polymers in the solid state. Research on this project will involve organic polymer synthesis, material characterization, and testing and measuring degradation.
Logistics: You will be actively working full-time in the research lab with a small team. Our team will hold weekly group meetings that involve low-stakes research updates from every member of the team, and weekly individual meetings with you and the PI. We will run our full-time research lab for 10 weeks from Monday, May 18 until Friday, July 24.
Essay prompt: In 1-2 paragraphs, please describe what makes you a great candidate to pursue this full-time summer research opportunity, and what you are hoping to learn. Please include at least one question you have about the group’s research.
The Brucks research group is a relatively new team at Harvey Mudd, and we are actively exploring new areas of research. You will have the opportunity to help chart these next directions of our studies into controlling polymer shape and how this influences polymer function. This specific project will afford experience in techniques from both organic chemistry and polymer science, including characterization with NMR and size-exclusion chromatography (SEC). In addition to lab techniques, supportive collaboration, good record keeping and data analysis, and effective communication of results will be strongly emphasized. Our team always centers respect and inclusivity to foster an environment where everyone can succeed.