The integration of nanometer-sized fillers into polymer matrices to create nanocomposite materials has attracted a great deal of interest, not only because these materials can be tailored to specific practical applications but also because they can exhibit synergistic combinations of properties that display multifunctionality. Herein, we successfully incorporated silica (SiO2) nano particles into the rubber-modified polybenzoxazine (PBZ) by mixing and applied as a nanocomposite coating that exhibits both superhydrophobicity and superoleophilicity through a facile dipping and spraying technique. We used PBZ, not only because of its near-zero shrinkage upon polymerization, chemical resistance, and good dielectric, thermal, and mechanical properties but also because, most importantly, of its low surface free energy and low water absorptivity. With superhydrophobicity coexisting with superoleophilicity in one material, potential anticorrosion, anti-ice, and organics/water separation applications of the coating were investigated. Results revealed that the rubber-modified PBZ coating with the optimum SiO2 loading was able to display superior antiwettability and anticorrosion performance even during prolonged exposure to corrosive environment. The coating also showed promising anti-icing ability by preventing ice/snow from adhering to the surface and delaying icing of water upon striking the surface. Furthermore, when our coating was applied onto a metal mesh, the resulting coated membrane was able to effectively separate dichloromethane (DCM), a nonpolar oil, from water. Combined with good thermal and adhesion properties, the existence of all the aforementioned properties makes the developed nanocomposite a very promising coating material for multifunctional application purposes.

Polyurethanes have many applications in the medical field as well as a wide vareity of other industrial applications, such as coatings and tubings. This work will investigate the result of the addition of functionalized diols into common industrially used polyurethane systems. A library of diol monomers containing a variety of different amino acid pendant groups have been synthesized previously. Polyurethanes were then synthesized with the addition these monomers containing amino acid like pendant groups to mimic some functionality and properties found in nature. These homopolymers were characterized to determine the inherit properties of these materials. Polyurethanes were then synthesized by incorporating monomers from this library into the hard block segments as chain extenders. PTMO was selected as the soft segment. The properties and functionality of these mateirals were then investigated for future applications. Investigation of trans-1,4-Polyisoprene as an Organogelator for Organic Solvents

A simple and robust alternative for fabricating stimuli-responsive 2D self-folding films was introduced. The approach combines metal-sputtering, layer-by-layer assembly of polyelectrolytes, and transfer-printing of the bilayer film onto a substrate coated with a sacrificial layer. With this technique, self-folding bilayer films can be fabricated without using harsh chemical etchants, complicated chemical synthesis, or complex lithographic techniques. Upon release, the microsized 2D film is shown to reconfigure into a 3D structure caused by a mismatch in the properties of the individual layers. The actuation of the bilayer film can be triggered by partial swelling due to absorption of water or by partial expansion of one of the layers due to an increase in temperature.