Welcome to Christopher J. Kloxin’s Polymer Research Group
Our group is interested in several polymer-based research areas, including (i) stimuli-responsive materials for materials-healing, (ii) novel photopolymerization and photocoupling reactions for surface engineering and photolithography, (iii) DNA recognition and assembly using ‘click’ nucleic acids, and (iv) utilizing the coiled-coil motif to guide biomolecular self-assembly. Our general research approach is to design and synthesize materials from the monomer up to precisely tune the macromolecular architecture. We then utilize an array of characterization techniques, such as rheometry, scattering, and microscopy, to better understand the relationship between the underlying microscopic structure and the macroscopic property. This latter process informs the direction for monomer design and synthesis to optimize the desired property for a specific application.