Novel polymer materials are constantly being developed and applied to various technologies ranging from plastics and coatings, to batteries and nanoelectronics, to biomaterials and medicine. Polymer processing techniques requires a fundamental understanding of the polymer physics and dynamics in both solution and melt states depending on the design method. For instance, additive manufacturing methods often extrude a polymer melt through a nozzle before depositing on a substrate. Solution processing (e.g., spin-coating) requires knowledge of the solvent quality and polymer dynamics in solution during a phase transition. This opportunity seeks motivated candidates with a background in computational soft materials for investigating the structure-property relationships and dynamics in novel polymer materials including networks/gels, nanocomposites, and other polymer macromolecules in equilibrium and non-equilibrium processing conditions (e.g. flow, solution casting, etc.). The researcher will employ well known physics-based (consitutive equations, MD, etc.) and data-driven (ML) modeling techniques, as well as develop theory, to solve complex problems associated with polymer processing for next-generation materials. 

1.    Jeffrey G. Ethier, Debra J. Audus, Devin C. Ryan, Richard A. Vaia, "Integrating theory with machine learning for predicting polymer solution phase behavior", Giant 2023, 15, 100171.

2.    Jeffrey G. Ethier, Andrés Córdoba, Jay D. Schieber, "pyDSM: GPU-accelerated rheology predictions for entangled polymers in Python", Computer Physics Communications 2023, 290, 108786.

3.    Jeffrey G. Ethier, Lawrence F. Drummy, Richard A. Vaia, Lisa M. Hall, "Uniaxial Deformation and Crazing in Glassy Polymer-Grafted Nanoparticle Ultrathin Films", ACS Nano 2019, 13 (11), 12816-12829.

key words

Multi-scale Modeling; Molecular Dynamics; Polymer Physics; Structure-Property Relationships; Rheology; Machine Learning; Polymer Nanocomposites; Polymer Solutions; Non-equilibrium

Citizenship:  Open to U.S. citizens

Level:  Open to Postdoctoral and Senior applicants