10:30 - 11:00 a.m. Coffee with speaker | 11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. Seminar
“So easy a polymer physicist can do it: Accessible polyether materials through facile epoxide polymerizations"
Robert Ferrier, Assistant Professor, Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Michigan State University
Abstract: Polyethers are ubiquitous polymeric materials used in diverse areas from drug delivery to energy storage. Despite their utility across different application spaces, these materials are underutilized. Polyethers are made from the ring opening polymerization of their functional monomer precursors, epoxides. However, unlike other monomer substrates, there is no simple, one size fits all polymerization approach. Over the last decade, we have been developing the closest thing so far to a generalized epoxide polymerization platform. In this case, we utilize an aluminum-based initiator and catalyst system that allows for fine control over polymer structure, molecular weight, composition, and end group, ultimately allowing us to precisely tune material properties. We apply these materials, along with off-the-shelf polymers, to investigate fundamental polymer physics as well as craft materials for applications in the broad areas of energy, environment, and health. In this talk, I will discuss the merits of this polymerization platform, what it can do, and argue that it can be incorporated into more physics-forward research programs due to its ease of use. Next, I will discuss some examples of how we use this platform to create application-focused polymeric materials including polymeric membranes for separations and radiopaque polymers for biomedical devices. Finally, I will discuss future directions we are interested in exploring using polyethers as a base.
Bio: Robert Ferrier is an Assistant Professor in the Chemical Engineering and Materials Science (ChEMS) Department at Michigan State University (MSU). Ferrier grew up in Norristown, PA, a suburb of Philadelphia. In 2009, he graduated with a BS in Physics and an MS in Materials Science from Drexel University. At Drexel, he did research in Chris Li's Soft Materials Lab, synthesizing and assembling polymer grafted Janus nanoparticles. He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 2015 with a PhD in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering. At Penn, he did research in Russell J. Composto's Polymer Physics Lab focusing on synthesizing and assembling polymer grafted gold nanorods. While at Penn, Ferrier did research abroad in Japan at Kyoto University on surface-initiated polymerization and France at CNRS Grenoble on DNA grafted gold nanorods. He moved to UT Austin in 2016 as a postdoc in the Chemical Engineering Department in Nathaniel A. Lynd's Polymer Chemistry Lab. Here, Ferrier developed a new method to polymerize epoxides using Earth-abundant aluminum catalysts. He started as an Assistant Professor at MSU in August 2018 in the ChEMS Department. Ferrier's research focuses on developing new polymeric materials for applications in energy, environment, and health. Specifically, he synthesizes new polymers, especially polyethers, and combines these bespoke polymers with off-the-shelf polymers and functional nanomaterials to investigate structure-property relationships and improve material design. Aside from research, Ferrier enjoys teaching, both at the university and K-12 level, and for this he has won the Withrow Teaching Award (2024) and the Withrow Excellence in Diversity Award (2025).