Event
MSE Seminar: Dr. Robert Briber, UMD
Wednesday, September 25, 2024
3:30 p.m.
Room 2108 Chemical and Nuclear Engineering Building
Sherri Tatum
301-405-5240
statum12@umd.edu
Experiments on Polymer Chain Conformation
Abstract: Chain conformation controls many of the functions of polymer chains, from mechanical behavior in elastomers, to dewetting phenomenon in thin films, to biological function in biopolymers. This talk will present a number of examples of measurements of polymer chain conformation in complex synthetic and bio- polymer systems. Small angle neutron and x-ray scattering is the main experimental tool used to measure polymer chain conformation. The systems that will be addressed include: ultra-thin polymer films, folding of RNA and cellulose-ion interactions.
Bio: Robert M. Briber is a professor of Materials Science and Engineering and Associate Dean for Research for the Clark School of Engineering. He was Chair of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Maryland from 2003-2015 and interim Dean of the College from 2020-2021. He has a B.S. degree in Materials Science and Engineering from Cornell University and a Ph.D. degree in Polymer Science and Engineering from the University of Massachusetts. He is an internationally recognized researcher in the field of materials science with a specialization in the physics of polymers and the structural characterization of soft materials. He is a past President of the Neutron Scattering Society of America, a Fellow of the American Physical Society and of the Neutron Scattering Society of America, a recipient of the Department of Commerce Bronze Medal, a University of Maryland Distinguished Scholar-Teacher, a former editor of the Journal of Polymer Science. He has taught the class “Materials of Civilization”, an I-Series and a University of Maryland Marquee Science and Technology course.
