Chuanbing Tang

With the entrance of polymer science to its second century, plastics have garnered tremendous socioeconomic and environmental attention that has pressed significant demands on the sustainable development. With undoubted benefits and convenience to the society, polymers should play a more sustainable role in serving the humankind. This talk summarizes our efforts in developing sustainable polymers from two major interconnected approaches: macromolecular engineering and bioinspiration. In the first half, this talk will be focused on the manufacturing of bioplastics from renewable biomass such as plant oils and resins, emphasizing the effect of controlled topologies and compositions on chain entanglement toward enhanced thermal and mechanical properties. On the other hand, nature provides many sources of inspiration for advanced material designs. The second half of talk will recapitulate properties such as high mechanical strength and autonomous healing in the space of recently developed bioinspired materials. The emphasis is placed on how chemistries of monomers and polymers improve materials properties in conjunction with processing methods.

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PW: UBCBE1

Dr. Chuanbing Tang received B.S. from Nanjing University, M.S. and Ph.D. from Carnegie Mellon University with Krzysztof Matyjaszewski and Tomasz Kowalewski, and worked as a postdoctoral scholar at the University of California Santa Barbara with Craig Hawker and the late Edward Kramer. He joined the University of South Carolina Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry in August 2009. Currently he is a University Eminent Professor. His research interests focus on organic polymer synthesis, sustainable polymers, metal-containing polymers, and polymers for biomedical and energy applications. He is a Fellow of American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE), Royal Society of Chemistry, American Chemical Society Polymer Chemistry Division, and a Kavli Fellow of National Academy of Sciences. He is a recipient of Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE), South Carolina Governor's Young Scientist Award for Excellence in Scientific Research, National Science Foundation Career Award, ACS Local Section Outreach Volunteer of the Year Award, and UofSC Distinguished Undergraduate Research Mentor Award. He is currently a Senior Editor for Progress in Polymer Science (Elsevier), and serves or served on editors or editorial advisory boards of major polymer journals, including Polymer, Polymer Reviews, Macromolecules, ACS Macro Letters, Macromolecular Rapid Communications, Macromolecular Chemistry and Physics, Acta Polymerica Sinica, Giant, and Green Materials. He has edited one book, published over 160 papers, and received 16 patents.

• Time: 11:00 AM
• Location: 206 Furnas Hall
• Seminar Flyer