Seminar"Engineering Flame-Resistant Polymers and Soft Materials: From Coatings to Rheology"Sidney Cotton

Micro/Bio/Nanofluidics (Shen) Unit would like to invite you to the seminar by Sidney Cotton on May 20 (Tuesday).
 
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Date:   May 20, 2025
Time:  15:30-16:00
Venue: B503 OIST
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Speaker:

Sidney Cotton
PhD student
Duke University, USA

Title:

Engineering Flame-Resistant Polymers and Soft Materials: From Coatings to Rheology

Abstract:

Sidney Cotton is a first-year Ph.D. student in Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science at Duke University, with a B.S. in Chemistry and a Minor in Materials Science and Engineering from Texas A&M University. Her research spans flame-retardant polymers and the mechanical characterization of soft materials.

This presentation will explore two key areas of Sidney’s undergraduate research in the Polymer NanoComposites Laboratory: (1) the use of layer-by-layer assembled polyelectrolyte complexes (PECs) as conformal intumescent coatings to enhance the flame retardancy of textiles, including cotton, polyester, and nylon, and (2) the synthesis and characterization of non-isocyanate polyurethane foams with tunable mechanical properties and intrinsic fire resistance.

Currently, Sidney is conducting research in the Keshavarz Lab at Duke University, investigating the rheological behavior of soft polymeric materials with a focus on using metal-coordination networks for applications such as shape memory and adhesion. Sidney is combining rheological measurements with atomic force microscopy (AFM) to explore how viscoelastic properties relate across different length scales in hydrogels and hydrogel coatings.

Altogether, this presentation emphasizes the synergy between polymer chemistry, materials processing, and multiscale property characterization in the development of advanced functional materials for high-performance and sustainable applications.

Host:
Prof. Amy Shen