Cooperative Research Award

The invited symposium for the PMSE Cooperative Research Award, which recognizes the cooperative research efforts which were of significant importance to polymer science and technology between industrial and academic or industrial and national laboratory scientists.

Silica/Silicon/Silicone/Silanes: A Symposium Honoring Stephen J. Clarson

This symposium is in honor of Stephen J. Clarson (C&EN) who was active in the PMSE and POLY divisions of ACS focusing on Nanotechnology of Si-based polymers, biopolymers and biomedical materials including silicone, silane, siloxane, and silica chemistry and composites. Clarson organized fourteen ACS symposia including two successful series of symposia on Silicones and Silicone-Modified Materials (I to VII from 1998-2015) and Synthetic and Biological Macromolecules for Emerging Nanotechnologies (I to IV from 2005-2016). He also edited five associated books for the ACS in these areas. The symposium will bring together these topics and related areas of biosilica, and magnesiothermic reduction of silica for lithium-ion battery anodes.

Advances in Metathesis Polymerization and Transition Metal Carbene Complexes

Through this symposium we seek to highlight the recent developments in catalytic polymerization involving transition metal carbene complexes that have enabled the synthesis of polymers with unique composition, topology, and stereoregularity. Recent work related to the reactivity of metathesis polymerization catalysts or the development of new catalytic reactions (e.g. tandem ROMP/RCM, alkyne metathesis, chain transfer reactions, etc.) will be presented to highlight advances in stereo- and chemoselectivity.

Asia Pacific Young Scientist Symposium in Polymer Science and Engineering

The symposium aims at “Networking of Knowledge and Opportunities for Sustainable New Materials in the Asia Pacific” by creating a collaborative network of young researchers, graduate students and prospective post-doctoral fellows across Asia-Pacific and the globe. The scientific topics cover sustainable polymers, conducting polymers, sensors, materials for sensors and actuators, water purification, textiles, nanocomposites, biomaterials, and biomedical materials. Through this symposium, we expect to earn more international, intercultural and cross-disciplinary collaborations leading to local capacity strengthening and building in different scientific and technological areas of polymers and nanotechnology. The program envisions a strong networking forum of young researchers from the Asia Pacific region with the American Chemical Society (ACS) affiliated scientists and thus creating a network of future science leaders in polymer science and engineering.

At the Interface of Education and Research: Highlighting the Contributions of Primarily Undergraduate and Underrepresented Institutions to Soft Matter

Soft matter has benefited immensely from interdisciplinary research at the interface of chemistry, engineering, and physics. This symposium aims to highlight the work conducted at primarily undergraduate institutions (PUIs), historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs), and underrepresented research centers that have contributed to the advancement of polymer science and engineering through their research and teaching efforts. These talks are an opportunity to recognize and celebrate the academics who continue to inspire the next generation of soft matter experts both in the laboratory and in the classroom. Topics cover a broad range of polymer research and soft matter teaching pedagogy with an emphasis on selecting speakers from underrepresented research institutions.

Controlling Soft Materials with Light

Photochemical processes controlling polymer formation, structure, and properties comprise a broad and evolving field of interdisciplinary research. Development of novel photocatalysts and resins are expanding the portfolio of material platforms while advancements in light-based additive manufacturing platforms facilitate the processing of new material architectures. The growth of this field is driving interest in spatiotemporal control of multi-phase materials and technique development for characterizing photo-responsive polymer properties and behavior. This symposium will bring together polymer chemists and material scientists with overlapping interests in light-based processing and actuation of soft materials.

Dynamically Bonded Materials: Advances in Synthesis, Characterization, and Application

Dynamically bonded materials are a hot area in polymer science and engineering. The introduction of dynamic covalent and dynamic non-covalent interactions enhances mechanical properties such as toughness and fracture energy and introduces new properties such as self-healing, adaptability, and recyclability. This symposium will focus on a diverse range of speakers spanning the fundamental polymer chemistry to complex applications of these dynamic materials.

Engineered Living Materials through Synthetic Biology: Beyond the Crossroad of Biology and Chemistry

Functional Polymer and 2D Materials Interfaces for Optoelectronics

This symposium will highlight the latest developments in the interfacial chemistry and engineering of the hard/soft 2D materials interface. The expansion of the classes of 2D materials including Transition Metal Dichalcogenides (TMDs), Covalent Organic Frameworks (COFs), MXenes, Metal Chalcogenide Phosphates (MCPs), and Perovskites among many others, has given rise to the study of an intriguing set of materials properties. Combined with advances in functional polymer platforms that augment the intrinsic properties of the 2D material, little is known about this so-called

General Papers/New Concepts in Polymeric Materials

The New Concepts in Polymeric Materials symposia covers topics which are not the focus of current symposium in the current programming schedule, but are related to the PMSE Division scope of new polymeric materials, polymer science, or polymer engineering and application.

Materials and Processing Challenges in Additive Manufacturing of Structural Composites

The symposium topics include chemistry, molecular and nanoscale interactions, deposition, and processing solutions and hierarchical design solutions towards additive manufacturing (AM) of mechanically robust composites that withstand extreme environments (including, but not limited to, low and high temperature, harsh chemical environments, extreme loads or deformation, and cyclic conditions). Topics that include evolving, cooperative and amplifying properties of complex chemistries and processes in AM that are being investigated at the molecular, nanoscale, and larger hierarchical scales are of interest. Additional topics included advanced real-time measurement methods, machine learning/artificial intelligence tools towards autonomous processes and process modeling concepts that improve structure-property-processing relationships of additively manufactured composites.

MXene-polymer Hybrid Materials: Synthesis, Processing, Characterization, and Applications

This symposium aims at being an international forum for discussion of synthesis, properties, and applications of MXenes-polymer composites. It will cover all aspects of fundamental, experimental and theoretical research related to MXene-polymer hybrids including synthesis, processing, surface chemistry, characterization of their electrical, electrochemical, optical, thermal, mechanical properties, and their applications in energy and environmental sectors.

PMSE/POLY Poster Session

The PMSE/POLY Poster Session is a joint session with the POLY Division held in the evening after all oral presentations, covering topics in the field of polymeric science, engineering, and design. For graduate and undergraduate presenters, please see the Best Poster Award which is held every session for an opportunity to be awarded for the best poster.

Open Forum: Collaboration, Partnership, and Networking Opportunities

This open technical forum aims to provide our broader PMSE community with collaboration, partnership, and networking opportunities in different organizations. Panelists are invited from various industries and government laboratories. After the brief introduction, we will have a presentation from each panelist, followed by an open Q&A from the audience. We encourage strong participation from early-stage investigators, postdocs, and senior-level graduate students.

Polymeric Membranes for Molecular and Ion Separations

Driven by advances in polymer science, membrane separations have demonstrated exemplary performance and energy efficiency in solving important societal problems such as seawater desalination, hemodialysis, water treatment, biopharmaceutical purification, and gas separations. Understanding and controlling the transport of small molecules (gas, liquid, and ions) in the membranes are central to enable further advances in membrane technologies. This symposium aims to provide a platform to bring together chemists, materials scientists, and membrane practitioners at the cutting edge of polymer membrane research to highlight significant advances in the development of polymeric membranes with precisely controlled microstructures and functionalities for changing separations (e.g, fractionating dissolved solutes of comparable molecular sizes; isolating dilute species from complex multicomponent mixtures). This symposium welcomes contribution on the design, synthesis, characterization, modeling/simulation, and fabrication of functional polymeric membranes and their applications for energy-efficient separations.

Surface Force Measurements at Biological and Non-Biological Interfaces

This symposium will bring in experts working on interfacial science and adhesion, materials surfaces, confined liquid films, intermolecular and surface forces among others, using primarily the surfaces forces apparatus/balances (SFA/SFB) experimental technique.

Transcending Nature in the Design of Polymer Hybrid Materials for Structural Applications: Advances in Experiments, Simulations, and AI Based Design

Next-generation structural composites for aerospace, biomedical, and automobile industries require materials that are lightweight and shown high strength and high toughness with intelligent functionality to sense, adapt, self-repair, morph, and restore. We encourage joint experimental-computation contributions that advance the area of lightweight/high-strength polymer nanocomposites, hierarchical structures for liquid crystalline phases, and situ experiments based on scanning probe microscopy and electron microscopy to understand nanoscale confinement, intrinsic toughening mechanisms, local probing of damage at the nanoscale, and state-of-the-art characterization to visualize the morphology and assess the mechanical properties of multiple length scales. Likewise, we encourage submissions in computational and machine learning methods that specifically are targeted to these applications.

ACS Award in Polymer Chemistry: Symposium in Honor of Karen I. Winey

Karen Winey, Harold Pender Professor in the Departments of Materials Science and Engineering and Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, has received the 2023 American Chemical Society (ACS) Award in Polymer Chemistry, for outstanding contributions to the understanding and advancement of polymer nanocomposites and ion-containing polymers, particularly structural control and transport dynamics. PMSE is pleased to sponsor her award symposium at the Fall 2023 Conference.

Bioconjugate Chemistry Lectureship and Award

The Bioconjugate Chemistry Lectureship Award recognizes an outstanding researcher who has made a major impact working at the interface between the biological and human-made worlds. This year’s recipient is Dr. Neal K. Devaraj at the University of California, San Diego. Professor Devaraj is recognized for groundbreaking contributions to the field of bioorthogonal chemistry and advances in understanding the origins of cellular life. Dr. Neal K. Devaraj is a Professor and Murray Goodman Endowed Chair of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of California San Diego (UCSD).

Eastman Chemical Student Award in Applied Polymer Science (Invited)

The Eastman Chemical Student Award in Applied Polymer Science recognizes graduate researchers who demonstrates research excellence in both research and technical presentations

E. V. Murphree Award in Industrial and Engineering Chemistry: Sympoisum in Honor of Qinghuang Lin

The E.V. Murphree Award is given to stimulate fundamental research in industrial and engineering chemistry, the development of chemical engineering principles and its application to industrial processes.

Journal of Polymer Science Innovation Award Symposium

The Journal of Polymer Science Innovation Award recognizes significant research innovation and achievement in a polymer scientist under 40.

Roy W. Tess Award Symposium

The Roy W. Tess Award recognizes outstanding individual achievements and noteworthy contributions to coatings science, technology, and engineering.

Advances in Bioconjugate Materials for Biomedical Applications

The scope of this symposium is applications of machine learning (ML) to polymer research, development, production and end-of-life considerations. Attendees of the symposium will be exposed to a wide breadth of advances in application of ML and informatics across the full lifecycle of polymer research and development.  Topics can include the use of ML in: design of new molecules and reactions; identification of synthetic routes and catalysts; bulk property prediction; formulation, compositing and additives; production modeling and optimization; biodegradability and recycling.

Applications of Machine Learning in Polymers: Molecular Structure, Properties, Formulation, and Processing

This session will cover recent advances in the use of robotics, lab automation, and artificial intelligence to synthesize and characterize polymers and soft materials. A particular focus will be on ‘closed-loop’ studies where an AI agent autonomously controls the course of the experiment. Beyond this, we hope to highlight researchers who’ve used AI and machine learning to enhance measurements through improved data processing, instrument tuning, and automated analysis.

Automated and Autonomous Experimentation of Polymers and Soft Materials

The confluence of cheap robotics, increasing compute power, and advances in artificial intelligence are revolutionizing the way experimental science is conducted. The lab of the future has arrived with lab-automation that tirelessly carries out experiments and artificially intelligent agents that optimally guide their progress. Researchers have shown that these tools can increase the throughput, resolution, and accuracy of soft material synthesis and characterization. Industrial scientists are leveraging these methods to explore larger formulation spaces and shorten the time to market as consumer demand and regulation forces the reformulation of existing products. Most importantly though, automation and autonomy free the scientist from the tedium of experimental execution to focus on data interpretation, analysis, and experimental planning. This session will cover recent advances in the use of robotics, lab automation, and artificial intelligence to synthesize and characterize polymers and soft materials. A particular focus will be on ‘closed-loop’ studies where an AI agent autonomously controls the course of the experiment. Beyond this, we hope to highlight researchers who’ve used AI and machine learning to enhance measurements through improved data processing, instrument tuning, and automated analysis. 

Advances in Glycomaterials for Biomimicry and Biomedicine

This symposium focuses on recent advances in the synthesis and characterization of glycomaterials and their emerging applications in biomedicine. Topics covered during the symposium include generation of novel synthetic glycopolymeric architectures and precision glycan-based nanomaterials, as well as advances in engineering or biologically derived glycoconjugates.

Frontiers in Polymer Science and Engineering (USA-China Joint Sympoisum)

This USA-China joint symposium will highlight outstanding research and scientists whose exceptionally creative work opens up new frontiers for polymer science. Shared research between both nations will be presented and highlight collaborative opportunities for new science breakthroughs and discoveries.

General Papers/New Concepts in Polymeric Materials

The General Papers/New Concepts in Polymeric Materials Symposium is open to all members seeking to share knowledge of the research in poster form versus a oral presentation. All fields of polymeric science and engineering are welcome.

Hybrid Functional Materials of Polymers for Inorganic Nanoparticles

This symposium will be a forum for the community to discuss new polymer-assisted self-assembly of inorganic nanoparticles. A broad range of topics from molecular designs, synthesis, mechanisms, theory modeling to applications of those hybrid materials are welcomed to submit to this symposium.

PMSE/POLY Poster Session

The PMSE/POLY Poster Session is open to all members seeking to share knowledge of the research in poster form versus a oral presentation. All fields of polymeric science and engineering are welcome.

PMSE Future Faculty Symposium

This symposium will celebrate the PMSE Future Faculty awardees, including talks from all awardees and established researchers. Honorees will be applying to faculty positions within a year of their selection in the area of polymeric materials science and engineering.

PMSE Early Investigator Symposium

This symposium will celebrate the PMSE Early Investigator awardees, including talks from all awardees, as well as established researchers. Awardees are from industry, national labs, and academia who have made significant contributions to the field of polymeric materials science and engineering, and are typically in the first seven years of their independent career.

Polymeric Materials: From Synthesis to Application: USA-Israel Joint Symposium

The US – Israel Joint Symposium, “Polymeric Materials: From Synthesis to Application”, highlighting and celebrating collaboration in the field of polymers, will feature prominent speakers presenting recent work that emphasizes US – Israel collaborative research. The Symposium will help engender, enhance, and promote such collaborations.

Recent Advances in Radical Ring-Opening Polymerization

Vinyl polymers have many advantages that make polymers valuables for a wide range of applications but their stability under thermal, chemical, and mechanical stress leads to environmental pollution on a macro-scale and via long-lasting microscopic plastic fragments (microplastics). Transforming already known materials to make them biodegradable/recyclable is a very promising approach and this could be done via the introduction of labile bonds onto the polymer backbone. A simple and useful method of incorporating weak bonds randomly onto the C−C polymer backbone is by radical copolymerization of vinyl monomers with cyclic monomers via radical ring-opening polymerization (rROP). This method combines both the advantages of ring-opening polymerization and radical polymerization, that is the production of polymers having heteroatoms and/or functional groups in the main chain together with the robustness, the ease of use and the mild polymerization conditions of a radical process. This symposium will focus on the recent developments in radical ring-opening polymerization and will focus on degradation/recycling of these new materials.

Sustainable Engineering and Nanofabrication of Polymers

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Synthesis, Properties, and Application of Sustainable Polymers

This symposium broadly focuses on the topic of sustainable materials and materials that contribute to the circular economy. The following emerging topics are of interest: synthesis of new biodegradable and/or recyclable polymers, decreasing the waste or energy used in processing, catalytic depolymerization and upcycling, polymers and composites from natural products or waste, plastics with a closed-loop life cycle, self-healing materials, vitrimers, and other unique solutions for creating environmentally friendly materials.