"Design and Characterization of Soft Materials: Where Theory, AI, Simulations and Experiments Meet"

This event is sponsored by FAMU-FSU Engineering Department of Chemical & Biomedical Engineering.

Abstract: During the last decade, our understanding of soft matter has been transformed through the synergistic consolidation of theory, AI applications, computer simulations, and experiments into a materials design engine and characterization platform. In the first part of a talk, I will describe how this approach has guided development of programmable molecular architectures to yield novel functional materials with well-controlled physical properties. I will demonstrate how theory, AI approach and computer simulations have empowered the design of polymeric networks capable of replicating the unique mechanics and temporal evolution of living tissue. In the second part of the talk, I will focus on synergy of theory and AI in development of a new framework for polymer molecular weight characterization which opens a path for implementation of in-line polymer characterization during synthesis. I will conclude the talk by highlighting advances in coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulations for modeling of 3D printing and polymer degradations under different external conditions.

Dr. Andrey Dobrynin

Mackenzie Family Eminent Distinguished Professor of Chemistry

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Speaker Bio: Andrey Dobrynin is the Mackenzie Family Eminent Distinguished Professor of Chemistry at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He received his B.S. (1987) and Ph.D. (1991) degrees in Polymer Physics from the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, Moscow, Russia. He is a fellow of APS, AAAS and POLY Division of ACS. His research is focused on computationally driven materials design, polymer networks and gels, wetting and adhesion at the nanoscale, associating polymers, polyelectrolyte solutions and gels, charged polymers at surfaces and interfaces, electrostatic interactions in biological systems, time programmable materials, 3D printing, active matter, and soft-matter physics and biophysics. More information is available from the research group web page: https://dobryninlab.unc.edu/.