Celebration of Excellence: CBE Students Recognized for Outstanding Achievements

On April 30, 2025, several CBE students presented their research at UB's Student Showcase for the Celebration of Academic Excellence:

Solvent-based Delamination of Multilayer Films for Plastics Recycling Applications

Jacob Licht  (Paschalis Alexandridis and Marina Tsianou research groups)

Plastics are widely used across industries such as food, beverage, textile, health care, automotive, aerospace, construction, and agriculture. Only a small fraction of the plastics produced is being recycled (less than 10% in the US). There is great interest nowadays in increasing the recycling rate of plastic waste. Mechanical recycling is currently used to recycle plastic waste; however, this method cannot handle plastic film which constitutes about 40% of all plastic packaging used. Research in our group advances solvent-based "molecular" recycling, whereby polymers are selectively dissolved and precipitated to achieve separation and recovery. This project addresses the molecular recycling of multilayer films which comprise multiple layers or polymer combined into a single film to achieve consumer specifications. This presentation highlights the recovery of polyethylene from multilayer films via solvent-assisted delamination and separation processes that we have developed, which leave the majority component, polyethylene, in the solid form for subsequent recycling. 

Assessing the Economic and Environmental Benefits of Technology and Policy Pathways for Plastic Recycling in the U.S.

Matthew Bablin (Aurora Munguia Lopez research group)

The US plastic recycling rate, currently around 10%, is far from reaching its full potential. Recent developments in recycling technologies can help increase this rate. Through our work, we will provide a thorough analysis of the environmental and economic impact of these technologies by creating a computational framework using data from life cycle and techno-economic assessments. This is a necessary step to ensure feasibility before implementation. Additionally, we will review the current US legislature regarding plastic waste management and assess where changes should be made to allow novel technologies to increase the national plastic recycling rate.

Characterization of Lipid Droplet Interfaces: Molecular Simulations Reveal Effects of Cholesteryl Ester Composition

Oluwatoyin Campbell (Viviana Monje research group)

Lipid monolayers encapsulate lipid droplets (LDs), organelles that function as storage for neutral lipids. Liver cancer interrupts normal LD metabolism and promotes accumulation of cholesteryl esters (CEs). This changes LD chemical content, which can have effects on the organizational behavior of lipids within them. We hypothesize that this may play into the increased persistence of LDs in liver cancer patients. To investigate this, all-atom molecular dynamics simulations were used to model LD micropipette aspiration and gain insight into the effect of CE concentration on LD structural and mechanical properties. The results show increased phospholipid packing due to insertion of CE acyl tails into the monolayer. Increasing CE concentration induces notable stiffness and increased exposure of CEs at the LD surface. These insights improve our understanding of the physical properties of LD interfaces during liver cancer progression and can be practically applied during the development of cancer therapeutics.

Corrosion Detection Using Self Resonant Coils

Alex Dunkleberger (Thomas Thundat research groups)

With growing infrastructure, an increasing vulnerability to mechanical wear and failure calls for new methods of predicting these events. This research explores ways of detecting corrosion on surfaces using properties of self-resonant coils. These coils can form a standing wave within them when engaged by an electrical frequency known as the coil's resonant frequency. This "supply" wave carries itself through a conductor to reach an exposed wire at the base of the coil. The coil, consisting of a magnet wire wrapped around an insulator, increases the amplitude of the signal when resonance is achieved. As the wave propagates through the conductive material, it can undergo phase shifts and other alterations as it encounters impurities or other materials, such as an oxidated layer. Determining the location and severity of corrosion using this technology may hopefully lead to answers for finding corrosion under insulation.

Role of Innate Immune Cells in Vascular Graft Regeneration: Effects of Host Age

Arundhati Das  (Stelios Andreadis research group)

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are a leading cause of deaths across the globe, often requiring surgical replacement of damaged and occluded blood vessels. Although autologous vessels like saphenous veins have served as the gold standard for vascular grafts, their limited availability, high morbidity at donor site and high rate of long-term failure have prompted the search for alternatives. To address this, our group developed a completely cell-free graft, coated with a novel fusion peptide called H2R5, that harnesses the host immune system to regenerate itself post-implantation. However, aging is known to dysregulate the immune system, and most of the vascular grafts recipients are the elderly. Therefore, we investigated the performance of our cell-free vascular grafts in young and old mouse models to assess how host age may impact the behavior of immune cells during graft regeneration. Overall, the results highlight an exciting potential for our grafts in future clinical applications.

Solvent-based Delamination of Multilayer Plastic Films for Plastics Recycling Applications

Emmitt Stores (Paschalis Alexandridis and Marina Tsianou research groups)

Plastic, is a widely favored material across various industries such as: packaging, textiles, construction, and electronics. Among plastics, annual film production represents an estimated 40% of all packaging-related plastic, with multilayer films constituting approximately 26% of the total films. Multilayer films often contain bound polymer layers with each layer being as thin as 20 µm. Multilayer plastic films offer: customizable properties based on film composition, gas and moisture barriers, lightweight nature, and cost-effectiveness. Recycling of multilayer films is challenging due to the multiple bound polymer layers. Solvent-based delamination, a type of molecular recycling, induces separation and enables the recycling of bound polymers in a multilayer film. Solvent-based delamination is induced by targeting binding layers of multilayer films for dissolution by compatible solvents, freeing bound polymer layers as monolayer films with no degradation and less energy and materials than dissolution-precipitation recycling. This is accomplished at varying temperatures and different solvent-solute systems.

Multi-Compartment Pharmacokinetic/Pharmacodynamic Modeling of Drug Delivery from Polymeric Microspheres for Wet Age-Related Macular Degeneration

Sarita Das (Stelios Andreadis research group)

Wet (neovascular) age-related macular degeneration (nAMD) is an aggressive eye condition caused by the formation of abnormal leaky blood vessels in the retina. These blood vessels are associated with an increased amount of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) within the eye. Many current treatment options for nAMD aim to suppress VEGF levels through repeated intravitreal injections. Repeated injections cause disturbance for patients, and drug delivery systems (DDS) offer a solution to provide extended drug delivery. Here, we connected pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic models of intravitreal injection of abicipar, ranibizumab, and bevacizumab to a mathematical model of drug release from a bi-layered polymeric microsphere DDS (chitosan core and outer polycaprolactone layer), aiming to quantify drug release dynamics and VEGF suppression. The DDS was optimized by varying parameters including inner and outer radius, and initial drug loading. Stimulated results demonstrated that this DDS can provide extended drug release and increased VEGF suppression over time.