Latest News

April 2023:
Congratulations to Alison Shapiro for winning the 2023 Richard Wool Award for Women in Green Engineering!

March 2023:
Congratulations to Jignesh Shantaram Mahajan for receiving MSEG Outstanding Graduate Student Research Assistant Award!

March 2023:
Congratulations to Ty Christoff-Tempesta for being selected to participate in the 2023 CAS Future Leaders program!

March 2023:
Congratulations to Ty Christoff-Tempesta for being selected as a 2023 PMSE Future Faculty Honoree!

January 2023:
Congratulations to Dr. Epps for being selected as a member of the new class of PMSE Fellows for 2023! Details can be found here.

January 2023:
Congratulations to Sonia Li for being selected as one of the NRT MIDAS Fellows!

December 2022:
The Epps group welcomes Venice Magunga and Tristan Herrera as new graduate students!

October 2022:
Congratulations to Sampanna Mhatre for receiving award for his talk at the MSEG/MRS student symposium!

August 2022:
Priyanka Ketkar was featured in the UDaily for being selected for NRC Postdoctoral Fellowship at the NIST. Congratulations to Priyanka! Details can be found here.

May 2022:
Congratulations to Priyanka for successfully defending her thesis!

April 2022:
Congratulations to Dr. Epps for receiving Faculty award for excellence in research and entrepreneurship!

April 2022:
Congratulations to Eduardo Nombera for receiving 2022 MSEG Chairperson's Outstanding Undergraduate Student Award!

March 2022:
Congratulations to Priyanka Ketkar for earning a NIST NRC Postdoctoral Fellowship!

February 2022:
Congratulations to Robert O'Dea and Lignolix for winning the Mid-Atlantic Regional EnergyTech University Prize! More information can be found here.

January 2022:
Congratulations to Jamael Ajah for winning the CBE Collins Fellowship!

December 2021:
Congratulations to Dr. Epps for being named to the 2022 Class of NAI Fellow! More information can be found here.

November 2021:
The Epps group welcomes Alison Shapiro and Jamael Ajah as new graduate students!

November 2021:
Congratulations to Dr. Epps for receiving 2021 AlCHE MAC William Grimes Awardee!

November 2021:
Congratulations to Maida Mahmood and Mengying (Sara) Yang for receiving awards for their talks at the MSEG/MRS student symposium!

September 2021:
New postdoctoral positions are available in Prof. Thomas Epps' and LaShanda Korley' s groups in the Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering Department and Materials Science & Engineering Department associated with Center for Plastics Innovation (CPI) at the University of Delaware (UD). More information can be found here.

August 2021:
Congratulations to Dr. Epps for being named an ACS Fellow! More information can be found here.

August 2021:
New postdoctoral positions are available immediately in Prof. Chris Kloxin's and Thomas Epps' groups in the Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering Department and Materials Science & Engineering Department at the University of Delaware (UD). More information can be found here.

July 2021:
Dr. Epps and Dr. Korley have published a call to action to address the urgent crisis of plastics pollution in a special issue of Science Magazine, with collaborators from the United Kingdom and Lawrence Berkeley National Lab in California! Details can be found here.

June 2021:
The Epps group welcomes Henry (Tre) Bartony III, Scott Sampson, Allison Robbins and Li Pei Soh as new undergraduate students!

June 2021:
The Epps group welcomes Mridula Nandi and Tianwei Yan as new post-docs!

May 2021:
Congratulations to Paula Pranda and Alice Amitrano for being the winners for the Chemical Engineering Industrial Sponsors Research Award at UD!

April 2021:
New postdoctoral positions is available immediately in Prof. Thomas Epps' group in the Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering Department at the University of Delaware (UD). More information can be found here.

February 2021:
Congratulations to Greg for successfully defending his thesis!

December 2020:
The Epps group welcomes Garrett Bass and Zachary Hinton as new post-docs!

December 2020:
The Epps group welcomes Sampanna Mhatre and Allison Koopman as new graduate students!

August 2020:
Alice Amitrano's research focused on the plant-powered replacements for plastics was featured in the UDaily. Congratulations to Alice! Details can be found here.

July 2020:
Three postdoctoral positions are available immediately in Prof. Thomas Epps' group in the Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering Department at the University of Delaware (UD). More information can be found here.

March 2020:
Congratulations to Dr. Epps for being named among 7 prominent scientists whose work helps to push their disciplines forward, presented in ACS Publications in honor of Black History Month! Details can be found here.

February 2020:
The Epps group welcomes Manisha Ahir as a new post-doc!

February 2020:
Congratulations to Esther for being selected for the Chemical Biology Interface (CBI) fellowship!

January 2020:
Congratulations to Lignolix for receiving the EDGE grant from the State of Delaware! Details can be found here.

January 2020:
Congratulations to startup Lignolix, one of the winners of the UDel FastPass Competition! The team focuses on sustainably making materials from renewable biomass. Technically and UDaily.

December 2019:
The Epps group welcomes Mruthula Rammohan, Mengying (Sara) Yang and Maida Mahmood as new graduate students!

October 2019:
The Epps group welcomes Aynur Guliyeva as a new post-doc!

October 2019:
The Epps group welcomes Antigoni Konstantinou as a visiting researcher!

July 2019:
The Epps group welcomes Craig Machado as a new post-doc!

June 2019:
Congratulations to Melody for successfully defending her thesis!

March 2019:
Congratulations to Melody for being selected as a finalist for the APS Division of Polymer Physics Frank J. Padden Jr. Award! A College of Engineering article can be found here.

November 2018:
The Epps group's work on tapered block polymer electrolytes is highlighted in UDaily, the Council of Graduate Schools, and Delaware NPR

November 2018:
The Epps group's work on turning waste lignin into tapes is highlighted by the U.S. DOE Office of Science

November 2018:
The Epps group welcomes Jordan Willie, Dajeong Kim, and Jignesh Mahajan as new graduate students!

October 2018:
The Epps group welcomes Chao Wang as a new post-doc!

October 2018:
The 2018 Future Faculty Workshop is featured in UDaily

August 2018:
Congratulations to Esther and Robert for passing quals!

July 2018:
The Epps group welcomes Eric Gottlieb as a new post-doc!

July 2018:
Seeking candidates for a post-doctoral position. Details can be found here

July 2018:
UD hosts the 2018 Future Faculty Workshop

June 2018:
Congratulations to Dr. Epps for being named a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry!

June 2018:
The Epps group's work on biobased pressure sensitive adhesives is featured in UDaily

April 2018:
Announcing the 2018 Future Faculty Workshop to be held at UD

April 2018:
Congratulations to Melody for being named the Fraser and Shirley Russell Teaching Fellow in Chemical Engineering!

March 2018:
Congrats to Seung for a recent publication in Science!

March 2018:
The Epps group welcomes Silvia Grama as a new post-doc!

January 2018:
The Epps group is looking to hire two new post-docs, check out the postings here for more details

January 2018:
Congrats to Greg for passing quals!

November 2017:
The Epps group welcomes Esther and Robert as new grad students!

November 2017:
The Epps group welcomes Yi as a new grad student!

November 2017:
Congrats to Seung for receiving the Hanwha Award for Post Docs at AIChE!

November 2017:
Congrats to Victoria for receiving 1st-Place for her MESD Undergraduate Poster at AIChE!

October 2017:
Congrats to Dr. Epps for being elected as a 2017 Fellow of the American Physical Society

August 2017:
Morris et al. perspective is a top 20 read for August

August 2017:
Congrats to Priyanka for passing quals!

August 2017:
The Epps group welcomes Seung as a new post-doc!

July 2017:
Dr. Epps is appointed as the new CMET Director

June 2017:
The Epps group welcomes Shelby and Grace, as summer REU students!

May 2017:
Congratulations to Chad for successfully defending his thesis!

May 2017:
Congratulations to Cameron for successfully defending his thesis!

May 2017:
Chad is an ACS/ESBES International Graduate Student Design Challenge Finalist

April 2017:
Dr. Epps Delivers the Lindsay Lecture at Texas A&M University

April 2017:
Kaleigh wins the Richard Wool Award for Women in Green Engineering

March 2017:
The Epps group is featured in UDaily Tuning Block-polymers

March 2017:
Cameron wins best DPOLY poster at APS 2017 March Meeting

October 2016:
Dr. Epps Delivers the Thiele Lecture at the University of Notre Dame

August 2016:
UD Hosts the 2016 Future Faculty Workshop

June 2016:
Announcing the 2016 Future Faculty Workshop to be held at UD

June 2016:
The Epps group welcomes Spencer, a summer REU student!

June 2016:
Epps group collaboration with DuPont Performance Materials announced

May 2016:
Congratulations to Ming for successfully defending his thesis!

May 2016:
Congratulations to Dr. Epps for his promotion to professor!

May 2016:
Congratulations to Chad for receiving the Saurabh A. Palkar Graduate Award for Mentoring

April 2016:
Congratulations to Melody for receiving the Robert L. Pigford Teaching Assistant Award

April 2016:
Congratulations to Kai for successfully defending his thesis!

March 2016:
Congratulations to Victoria for being named a 2016 Barry Goldwater Scholar

March 2016:
Victoria receives 2nd Place in the ACS Undergraduate Research in Polymer Science Symposium

December 2015:
Congratulations to Angela for successfully defending her thesis!

October 2015:
Congratulations to Dr. Epps for receiving the 2016 American Physical Society Dillon Medal

June 2015:
Congratulations to Dr. Epps for receiving the 2015 AIChE Owens Corning Early Career Award!

May 2015:
Angela is selected to speak at the AIChE 08A Excellence in Graduate Polymer Research Award Symposium

May 2015:
Tom is awarded the Paul H. Schipper Fellowship

April 2015:
Angela is awarded a UD Dissertation Fellowship

April 2015:
The Epps’ group battery membrane research was featured in the UDaily

March 2015:
Tom is awarded NSF GRFP Honorable Mention

March 2015:
Congratulations to Angela for being selected to speak at the 2015 Polymers Gordon Research Seminar

March 2015:
Kaleigh is selected to attend the 65th Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting

February 2015:
Chad's work on light-sensitive polymers for controlled gene silencing is featured on materialsviews.com

January 2015:
Ming and Cameron’s work on XPS depth profiling highlighted at Nanotechweb.org

January 2015:
Rashida is awarded a NSF Systems Biology of Cells in Engineered Environments IGERT Fellowship

Welcome to the Epps Research Group!

welcomeSoft materials exhibit an array of structures that reflect the optimization of complex and delicate molecular interactions. At length scales between ~ 1 nm and ~1 μm, interfacial curvature and packing geometry reflect the self-assembly of molecules with prescribed architectures. One class of soft material, block copolymers, provides the opportunity to design materials with attractive chemical and mechanical properties based on their ability to assemble into periodic structures with nanoscale domain spacings. In addition, modern polymerization methods afford access to an array of block copolymer architectures, ranging from two-monomer diblocks to branched configurations that may incorporate almost any number of different polymers.

Research Program

hexagonalThe primary focus of the Epps laboratory lies in designing, building, and characterizing new polymeric materials exhibiting molecular level self-assembly. Several applications for block copolymers and polymer blends under investigation in our group include: battery and fuel cell membranes, organic photovoltaics, analytical separations membranes, nanoscale containers and scaffolds for targeted drug delivery, precursors to electronic arrays, and surface responsive materials. We manipulate polymer internal and external interfacial characteristics in bulk and thin film environments to influence the ordering and stability of polymer structures. Assembly processes in our materials are explored with a comprehensive array of reciprocal space (small and wide-angle x-ray and neutron scattering), real space (optical, scanning probe, and electron microscopy), mechanical (dynamic mechanical analysis), and spectroscopic (x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, near-edge x-ray absorption fine structure, and infrared spectroscopy) techniques. Researchers in the group gain experience in chemistry, chemical engineering, materials science, and biology. Our work can be divided into the following areas:

Valorization of Biomass
Min Soo Kim
Ty Christoff-Tempesta
Mridula Nandi
Robert O’Dea
Jignesh Mahajan
Maida Mahmood
Sampanna Mhatre
Alison Shapiro
Tristan Herrera
Henry (Tre) Bartony III

Renewable Polymers from Waste Streams
Zachary Hinton
Tianwei Yan
Robert O’Dea
Jamael Ajah

Nanostructured Polymer for Ion-Conduction
Mengying (Sara) Yang
Venice Magunga

Polymer/MOF Composites
Maida Mahmood

Polymer Thin Films
Eric Gottlieb
Scott Sampson

conf_cells-1khhxc9Polymeric Assemblies for Nucleic Acid Delivery

Thomas

Thomas H. Epps, III

Phone: 302.831.0215 Fax: 302.831.1048 Email: thepps@udel.edu CV: PDFDownload Adobe Reader

Recent Honors & Awards

-University of North Carolina, Department of Chemistry, Slayton Evans Lecture, 2023

-Johns Hopkins University, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, William H. Schwarz Lecture, 2023

-University of Massachusetts – Amherst, Alumni Lectures, 2022

-Faculty Award for Excellence in Research and Entrepreneurship, UD, College of Engineering, 2022

-University of Minnesota, Dept. of Chemistry, Jeannette Brown Lectureship, 2022

-University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Birnbaum Award, 2022

-AIChE Minority Affairs William W. Grimes Award for Excellence in Chemical Engineering, 2021

-University of Delaware, Men’s Soccer Team – Most Valuable Professor Award, 2021

-C&E News Trailblazer, 2021

-Allan & Myra Ferguson Distinguished Professor of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering, 2021

-Percy L. Julian Award (NOBCChE), 2020 -University of Minnesota, Chemical Eng. and Materials Science Centennial & Jubilee Alumni Lecture, 2020

-Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, 2018

-APS Fellow, 2017

-Thiele Lectureship, University of Notre Dame, 2016

-Graduate Students of Diversity Lectureship, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, 2016

-APS John H. Dillon Medal, 2016 -AIChE Owens Corning Early Career Award, 2015

-Kavli Fellow, National Academy of Sciences, 2014

-Sigma Xi Young Investigator Award, 2014

-Thomas & Kipp Gutshall Professorship, 2012

-Martin Luther King, Jr. Visiting Professor Award, 2012

-UD Gerard J. Mangone Best Young Scholar Award (Alison Young Professor), 2011

-DuPont Young Professor Award, 2010

University of Delaware (UD)

Allan & Myra Ferguson Distinguished Professor of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering;

Professor of Materials Science & EngineeringProfessor of Biomedical Engineering (affiliated);

Director, UD, Center for Research in Soft matter and Polymers (CRiSP);

Director, UD MRSEC, Center for Hybrid, Active, and Responsive Materials (CHARM);

Deputy-Director, DOE EFRC, Center for Plastics Innovation (CPI);

Lignolix, Inc.
Co-founder
Chief Scientific Officer