Polymer

Prof. Brent Sumerlin and Microbiology Assoc. Prof. Luis Roesch team up to create synthetic mucus out of sheer-labile interaction polymers. Click to read the UF News article (photo courtesy of UF News).

During the past two years, Emeritus Chemistry Prof. Ken Wagener has been selected for the S. Dexter Squibb Distinguished Lectureship at UNC/Asheville and the H. Garth Spencer Distinguished Scholar Lectureship at Clemson University.

Professor Brent Sumerlin has been awarded the Macro Group UK Medal for Outstanding Achievement, an international honor recognizing sustained and influential contributions to polymer science.

A new study from UF Chemistry introduces the first electrochemically initiated depolymerization of poly(methyl methacrylate), enabling efficient monomer recovery at dramatically lower temperatures. Led by graduate student Graham Gilchrist and coadvised by Profs. Brent Sumerlin and Austin Evans, the work establishes electrochemistry as a powerful new tool for closed-loop recycling of commodity plastics.

The Sumerlin group has devised a novel “subtractive” technique to turn everyday plastics into highly porous, high-surface-area materials. Click to read the UF News article.

Cesar, a 4th year UF Chemistry and Physics double major, and Prof. Austin Evans studies how to process ultra-high molecular weight polymers through powerful electric fields. Click to read the UF News article.

The Department of Chemistry congratulates Prof. Sumerlin on these honors, celebrating both the international reach and campus impact of his research program.

ACS Fellows are recognized members of the ACS for outstanding achievements in and contributions to science, the profession, and the Society. Click to read the CLAS News article.

Oboro Labs, Inc., a new UF startup led by Prof. Adam Veige, is commercializing a patented catalyst enabling the mass production of cyclic polymers. Click to read the UF News article.

Brent Sumerlin and team “developed a completely new method that dramatically lowers the energy required to achieve depolymerization.” Click to read the CLAS News article.

The highly competitive DoD Multidisciplinary University Research Initiatives (MURI) grant program will fuel materials science research in the Evans and Sumerlin labs. Click to read the CLAS News article.