BIOENGINEERING DEPARTMENT SPRING 2018 SEMINAR SERIES

Richard Weiss, Ph.D., Professor
Department of Chemistry and Institute for Soft Matter Synthesis and Metrology Georgetown University, Washington, DC

Topic:   Complex Materials Through Self-Assembly Initiated by Small Molecules: Reversible Ionic Liquids, Rubbery Polymers, and Ambidextrous Gelators

Research Hall 163
March 8, 2018
12:00 pm - 1:00 pm

Abstract:  A synopsis will be presented of our research in which a triatomic molecule, CO2 or CS2, or a simple alkanoic acid has been added to isotropic liquids or polymers to create materials with interesting swelling, adhesive, and viscoelastic properties. The scope of the materials produced and aspects of their structural, spectroscopic, and dynamic (viscoelastic) properties will be discussed.

Biography:  Dr. Richard G. Weiss received an ScB degree from Brown University and MS and PhD degrees from the University of Connecticut under the mentorship of Eugene I. Snyder.  He was an NIH Postdoctoral Fellow with George S. Hammond at California Institute of Technology for 2 years and a Visiting Assistant Professor and National Academy of Sciences Overseas Fellow at the Instituto de Quimica of the Universidade de São Paulo in Brazil for 3 years. He has been a member of the faculty of Georgetown University since 1974 and currently holds the rank of Professor. He is also a member of the Institute for Soft Matter Synthesis and Metrology at Georgetown. He has been a visiting professor at universities and institutes in Brazil, China, Costa Rica, Germany, France, Italy, Japan, Slovakia, and Spain. He is a Fellow of IUPAC and a member of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences, and received a doctorate honoris causa from Université de Bordeaux 1. He was a senior editor of the ACS journal Langmuir for 10 years, is currently a member of the editorial advisory boards of the Journal of the Brazilian Chemical Society and Gels, and is an Associate Editor for Polimeros. His research interests include investigations of photochemical, photophysical and thermal reactions of molecules in anisotropic environments, and the development and application of new molecular and polymer gels, ionic liquids and ionic liquid crystals for various purposes. He has published more than 300 peer-reviewed scientific articles.