- This event has passed.
Mechanical Engineering Seminar Series: Zhigang Suo
March 12 @ 3:00 pm - 4:00 pm
Tanglemer: A Polymer Network in which Entanglements Greatly Outnumber Crosslinks
Zhigang Suo
Allen E. and Marilyn M. Puckett
Professor of Mechanics and Materials
Harvard University
3:00 PM
March 12, 2024
1200 EECS
ME Seminar Zoom link
Passcode 692510
Add ME Seminar to Google Calendar
Abstract
Long polymers inevitably entangle, and do not detangle in a crosslinked network. It is known that the network is stiffened by both crosslinks and entanglements. We have recently discovered that crosslinks and entanglements act differently when the network fractures. At a crack tip, crosslinks concentrate stress, but entanglements deconcentrate stress. The deconcentration of stress leads to high toughness, strength, and fatigue resistance. This talk describes methods to synthesize tanglemers, polymer networks in which entanglements greatly outnumber crosslinks. Tanglemers extend polymer durability and hold promise to reduce polymer pollution.
Bio
Zhigang Suo is Allen E. and Marilyn M. Puckett Professor of Mechanics and Materials at Harvard University. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Xi’an Jiaotong University in 1985, and a Ph.D. degree from Harvard University in 1989. Suo joined the faculty of the University of California at Santa Barbara in 1989, Princeton University in 1997, and Harvard University in 2003. His research centers on the mechanical behavior of materials.