Programmable Shape Morphing & Responsiveness of Composite Hydrogels

• Prof. Jinhye Bae, UC San Diego
• Department of NanoEngineering & Materials Science and Engineering
• Sponsored by the Golden Gate Polymer Forum (GGPF)
• 6:00-7:00pm, Online via Zoom, Free/$5 Donation, Registration required

Abstract: The design and fabrication of stimuli-responsive hydrogels and hybrids with reversible shape morphing and tunable actuation speed have been of great interest. In this talk, I will discuss our recent progress in approaches to integrate functional materials (e.g. graphene oxide, nanoclay, etc.) into stimuli-responsive hydrogels (e.g. poly(N-isopropylacrylamide)). These approaches provide insights into how the presence of functional additives and physical interactions between the additives and hydrogel networks can lead to different internal structures, and thus mechanical properties. Next, I will describe how we have leveraged these insights to precisely program the 3D shapes and control the swelling-deswelling kinetics by external stimuli, and tune the mechanical properties. Lastly, I will also demonstrate how different manufacturing processes can affect the microstructures and properties of hydrogels and their hybrids. Such a systemic approach to stimuli-responsive shape morphing systems of hydrogels and hybrids will allow us to understand their structure-property relationships and utilize these systems for applications ranging from soft robotics to biomedical devices.

Speaker background: Jinhye Bae is an Assistant Professor in the Department of NanoEngineering at the University of California, San Diego. She received her Ph.D. in Polymer Science and Engineering at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, then worked in the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences at Harvard University as a Postdoctoral Fellow. Her research focuses on understanding the structure-property relationship of polymeric materials to program their shape reconfiguration and responsiveness. Her research interests also include the integration of material characteristics into new structural design and fabrication approaches for applications in biomedical devices, soft robotics, actuators, and sensors. She has received several awards including the ACS PMSE Young Investigator Award (2023), the AIChE President Young Investigator Award (2021), and the ACS PRF Doctoral New Investigator Award (2021), She also has been selected as the Emerging Investigator in Nanoscale (2023), Soft Matter (2022), and Polymer Chemistry (2020).