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T. C. Mike
Chung
Professor
of Materials Science
and Engineering
325 Steidle Bldg.
814-863-1394
chung@matse.psu.edu |
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Biographical Sketch:
Professor Chung obtained his B. S. in Chemistry from
Chung Yuan University (Taiwan) in 1976. He came to the U. S.
for his graduate study in the Department of Chemistry, University
of Pennsylvania in 1979. After finishing his Ph.D work in 1982
on conducting polymers (with Professor A. J. MacDiarmid, Nobel
Laureate), he spend two years as a Research Scientist at Institute
for polymers and Organic Solids (with Professor Alan J. Heeger,
Nobel Laureate), University of California, Santa Barbara. Between
1984 and 1989, he was a Senior Research Staff in Corporate
Research, Exxon Company. In 1989 he joined the faculty of the
Pennsylvania State University as an associate professor and
became professor of Polymer Science in the Department of Materials
Science and Engineering in 1993. He is author of about 200
professional publications, including 2 books and 45 U.S. patents. |
Research
Interests:
• Functionalization
of polyolefins via the combination of metallocene catalysts and reactive
chain transfer
agents
• Functionalization
of fluoropolymers using borane-mediated radical polymerization
• Living
radical polymerization based on new borane/oxygen initiators
• Electric-active
fluoropolymers with high dielectric constant and large
and fast
electromechanical response
at ambient temperature
• B/C/M
graphitic materials for hydrogen storage
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Areas
of Research:
Professor Chung is interested
in the development of new polymer chemistry that can lead
to new materials with unique chemical and physical properties
for industrial applications. Several major research areas
in his current research projects are (a) functionalization
of polyolefins (PE, PP, EP, etc.) via the combination of
metallocene catalysts and reactive comonomers and chain transfer
agents, (b) synthesis of long chain branched polyolefin,
including i-PP and s-PS, and studying their thin film processing,
(c) studying control radical polymerization based on new
functional borane/oxygen initiators to prepare functional
fluoropolymers containing side-chain or chain-end functional
groups, (d) developing new electric-active polymers and composite
materials with high dielectric constant and large and fast
electromechanical response at ambient temperature, (e) using
functional polymers to prepare organic/inorganic hybrids
(nanocomposites) for various applications, such as proton
exchange membrane for fuel cells and thin films for capacitors,
(f) synthesizing boron substituted carbon (B/C) materials
and doped derivatives for hydrogen storage. My group at Penn
State is recognized as a leading research group in the functionalization
of polyolefin and fluoropolymers with more than 150 papers
and 45 US patent published in the past 20 years. Currently,
one of major research focuses is relative to new clean energy
technology, which is a very important research area for the
future of the world both from energy and environmental concerns.
The major technological hurtles are strongly associated with
the material issues. |
Technologies
impacted by research:
Recently,
Mitsubishi Chemical Co. has signed two option agreements
with Penn State for commercializing two relative technologies
developed by Professor Chung’s group, including the chemistry
to prepare chain end functionalized polypropylene and
applications in PP/clay nanocomposites. In addition,
Mitsubishi is also supporting Professor Chung’s
research.
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Articles and Publications:
1. “Functionalization of Polyolefins”,
T. C. Chung, Acedamic Press, London, 2002
2. Synthesis of Functional
Polyolefin Copolymers with Graft and Block Structures, T.
C. Chung, Progress in Polymer Science
27, 39, 2002.
3. Exfoliated PP/Clay Nanocomposites Using Ammonium-Terminated
PP as the Organic Modification Montmorillonite, Z. M. Wang,
H. Nakajima, E. Manias, and T. C. Chung, Macromolecules
36, 8919, 2003.
4. A New Class of “Living” Free
Radical Initiators Based on Alkylperoxydiaryborane Derivatives,
T. C. Chung U.
S. Patent 6,420,502 (2002).
5. Polyolefin Containing A Terminal Styrene or Styrene Derivatives
Unit, T. C. Chung and J. Y. Dong, U. S. Patent 6,479,600
(2002).
For a list of other publications from Dr. Chung, click
here (PDF).
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