A research study recently published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society (JACS) presents a breakthrough in the design of synthetic copolypeptides which mimic the mechanical properties of spider silk.
The study, entitled Synthesis and In Situ Thermal Induction of β-Sheet Nanocrystals in Spider Silk-Inspired Copolypeptides, was conducted in the research lab of IMS resident faculty member and Professor of Chemistry, Dr. Yao Lin, in collaboration with Dr. Jianjun Cheng, Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign (UIUC). Graduate students Tianjian Yang and Jianan Mao (UConn) and Tianrui Xue (UIUC) provided essential contributions to the study.
Leveraging advanced helix-accelerated, ring-opening polymerization techniques, the research team synthesized multiblock copolypeptides, which undergo a transformation into β-sheet nanocrystals upon heating, achieving robust materials with excellent mechanical integrity, tunability, and processability without the need for solvents.
The study also expands upon traditional poly-alanine-based constructs found in natural spider silk by introducing novel β-sheet-forming amino acids, offering new ways to tailor these materials for specific functional applications. This approach is expected to pave the way for next-generation biopolymer and high-performance fiber materials whose properties will include increases in tensile strength, extensibility, processability, and versatility similar to natural spider silk.
Professor Lin’s group studies bio-inspired macromolecules and materials using the techniques of polymer synthesis, macromolecular characterization, physical chemistry, molecular biology and biochemistry as tools.
With the support of the Macromolecular, Supramolecular and Nanochemistry program in the National Science Foundation (NSF) Division of Chemistry, Associate Professor of Chemistry and faculty member in the IMS Polymer Program Alexandru D. Asandei, is developing new methods for the precise synthesis of novel fluorinated polymeric materials with complex architectures, as well as exploring the re/upcycling of commercial fluoropolymers.
Fluoropolymers are contrasted to conventional polymers with even simple homo/random fluoropolymers exhibiting outstanding chemical, thermal and flame resistance, biocompatibility, and unique electronic properties which render them important in high-end applications such as battery, aerospace, sensing, medical device, building, construction, and automotive industries. However, the chemical tools for the precise synthesis of analogous complex fluoropolymer materials (blocks, grafts etc.) are lacking. Thus, the project goals include the development of the required novel chemistry, to explore hitherto unknown and unavailable materials with potentially superior properties and applications leading to the associated societal benefits.
While technologically important, fluoropolymers suffer from a number of factors that have hampered new developments. These factors include a combination of very low monomer reactivity, very high propagating polymer chain end reactivity, complex and often hazardous laboratory setups, and the general lack of appropriate polymer chemistry tools (initiators, catalysts, coupling agents etc.). Accordingly, fluoroalkenes remain some of the most challenging monomers for both controlled radical and coordination polymerizations, where manipulation of molecular weight, polydispersity and architecture/sequence are of paramount importance for the emerging properties. In addition, current re/upcycling of industrial fluoropolymers remain minimal.
The proposed research aims at developing innovative and environmentally conscious chemistry (e.g. water, visible light catalysis etc.), to overcome the above deficiencies, and significantly enlarges the fluoro, organic and polymer synthesis toolbox, while providing access to novel fluoropolymer materials. This includes the elaboration of novel, functional, universal radical initiating systems that enable both controlled radical fluoro/regular alkene polymerizations and chain end derivatizations/couplings towards the synthesis of multiblock copolymers, in-depth mechanistic investigations on optimizing polymerization parameters and understanding the structure/property/function in the resulting fluoropolymers, as well as exploration of the coordination polymerization of fluoroalkenes, and the up/recycling of industrial fluoropolymers.
The project provides training and education to undergraduate and graduate students, including minority and female students, in synthetic organic, organometallic, and polymer chemistry. The project also has strong industrial impact, important outreach activities, and the results will be broadly disseminated in the scientific literature and national and international meetings.
from the Department of Materials Science and Engineering
A robotic welding arms in operation.
UConn recently received $10.5 million from the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) for research on high-temperature materials and manufacturing processes. The funding will allow a team of seven faculty members from Materials Science and Engineering (Professors Aindow, Alpay, Frame, and Hebert), Civil and Environmental Engineering (Professor Kim), Mechanical Engineering (Professor Bilal), and Chemistry (Professor Suib) along with post-doctoral associates and graduate assistants to address challenges in the manufacturing of aerial systems intended to fly at high speed. Much of the four-year research project will focus on welding-related challenges for high-temperature metallic materials that are used for structures exposed to high speeds. The UConn team will combine experimental and theoretical approaches to help their collaborator, RTX, advance their manufacturing solutions. Additional project tasks address the behavior of non-metallic high-temperature materials under different processing and service conditions, additive manufacturing of high-temperature refractory metals, and the design and processing of metamaterials. These metamaterials are designed to change heat- and electro-magnetic fields in and around structures and are considered to advance the thermal management of high-temperature structures.
The new AFRL project comes at the heels of previous and ongoing AFRL projects for UConn approaching $30 million that involve over 15 faculty members from the Colleges of Engineering and Liberal Arts and Sciences with dozens of graduate students and post-doctoral associates. Covering research from functional materials and photonics to casting, welding, and additive manufacturing, the UConn team has established itself as a valuable partner for the AFRL and key industry partners, for example, Pratt & Whitney and Collins Aerospace.
Professor Rainer Hebert says of the contract, “The AFRL funding enables the UConn team to pursue materials processing research with a strong focus on industry and government relevance. Students and post-doctoral associates working on the project see firsthand how their research translates to industry. This insight will help in preparing a workforce that can pursue research excellence with a keen sense of the needs and constraints of industrial applications.”
Jessica Rouge (far left) with the members of her lab (UConn Photo).
Before sunrise, Jessica Rouge used to leap out of bed in the glow of darkness and race to the Charles River with her teammates for crew practice.
A few hours later, the future UConn associate chemistry professor would run back to Boston College for her morning science class: she was among a small group of female students pursuing a B.S. degree in biochemistry.
Rouge still sprints, but in a different way: now, she doubles as teacher, mother to two toddlers, mentor to young scientists, hobby musician and soon she will potentially add another role to her repertoire: science entrepreneur.
Rouge’s lab group, which is more than 50 percent female, “seeks to understand how enzymes and nucleic acids can be used in new ways to engineer highly specific and targeted responses in chemical and biological systems. Specifically, her team is interested in developing new chemical strategies for assembling catalytic RNA sequences at nanoparticle surfaces for sensing, diagnostic, and therapeutic applications.”
With the preclinical data she was able to secure using the Spark Fund resources, Rouge is hopeful that she and her collaborators are close to licensing her technology.
In a collaborative effort, researchers from the University of Connecticut (led by Profs. Yao Lin, VJ Kumar and Xudong Yao) and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (led by Prof. Jianjun Cheng) have made an advance in the rational design of synthetic polypeptides to develop filament-based hydrogels. The work, conceptualized and realized by the graduate students Tianjian Yang (UConn) and Tianrui Xue (UIUC), has been published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society (JACS) and featured as the cover of the March 6 issue.
Building on the recent advancement of autoaccelerated ring-opening polymerization of amino acid N-carboxyanhydrides (NCAs), this study strategically explores a series of random copolymers comprising multiple amino acids, aiming to elucidate the core principles governing gelation pathways of these purpose-designed copolypeptides. The team found that the selection of amino acids steered both the morphology of fibril superstructures and their assembly kinetics, subsequently determining their potential to form sample-spanning networks. Importantly, the viscoelastic properties of the resulting supramolecular hydrogels can be tailored according to the specific copolypeptide composition through modulations in filament densities and lengths. The findings enhance our understanding of directed self-assembly in high molecular weight synthetic copolypeptides, offering valuable insights for the development of synthetic fibrous networks and biomimetic supramolecular materials with custom-designed properties.
The research was supported by NSF grants awarded to Yao Lin at UConn (DMR 1809497 and 2210590) and Jianjun Cheng at UIUC (CHE 1905097).
Thanh Nguyen, center, is pictured here with members of his 2022-23 lab.
In rural areas, especially in developing countries, the long distance to a medical facility may hinder a population from getting vaccinations, and especially booster doses.
Vaccines—for everything from influenza to COVID-19 to pneumococcal diseases—are stored at a low temperature for stability and are typically administrated through a hypodermic needle and syringe from a health care professional.
“What if we were able to mail people vaccines that don’t need refrigeration and they could apply them to their own skin like a bandage?” asked Thanh Nguyen, associate professor of mechanical engineering and biomedical engineering at the University of Connecticut. “And what if we could easily vaccinate people—once—where they wouldn’t need a booster? We could potentially eradicate polio, measles, rubella, and COVID-19.”
The answer, Nguyen believes, is administrating vaccines through a programmable microneedle array patch with a novel process he is developing at his lab at UConn.
By adhering a nearly painless, 1-centimeter-square biodegradable patch to the skin, a person can receive a preprogrammed delivery of highly-concentrated vaccines in powder form—over months—and eliminate the need for boosters. “The primary argument is that getting vaccines and boosters is a pain,” Nguyen said. “You have to go back two or three times to get these shots. With the microneedle platform, you put it on once, and it’s done. You have your vaccine and you have your boosters. You don’t have to go back to the doctor or hospital.”
This month, UConn’s Institute of Materials Science received a three-year grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to support Nguyen’s research on “Single-Administration Self-boosting Microneedle Platform for Vaccines and Therapeutics.” The project’s goal is to develop a low-cost manufacturing process.
The Nguyen Research Group has already been working to thermally-stabilize vaccines and other therapeutics so they can stay inside the skin for a long period. In 2020, Nature Biomedical Engineeringpublished a study by Nguyen and his colleagues reporting that, in rats, microneedles loaded with a clinically available vaccine (Prevnar-13) against a bacterium provided similar immune protection as multiple bolus injections.
“We’ve been able to show this technology is safe and effective in the small animal model, but now the question is, how do we translate it into the commercialized stage and make it useful to the end user, which is the human,” he said.
With support from the Gates Foundation, Nguyen will be able to test his microneedle platform on a larger animal—a pig, which has skin similar to humans. And if the results are similar, Nguyen predicts this technology could be manufactured, at an affordable cost, enabling both domestic and global health impact.
Nguyen’s microneedle platform also caught the attention of the United States Department of Agriculture. In September, the USDA: Research, Education, and Economics division awarded Nguyen with a two-year grant for a study titled “Delivery of FMDV Protein Antigens Using a Programmable Transdermal Microneedle System.”
The Foot-and-Mouth Disease Virus (FMDV) is a highly contagious disease that affects the health of livestock such as cows, pigs, sheep, and goats. When an outbreak occurs, the disease leaves affected animals weakened and unable to produce meat and milk. FMDV causes production losses and hardships for farmers and ranchers, and has serious impacts on livestock trade.
And while vaccines exist, like with humans, boosters are required to keep the vaccine effective.
“USDA is interested in the technology because the patch will be able to deliver the initial dose and subsequent doses, or boosters, to animals without the need for rounding up and handling multiple animals at once,” Nguyen explained. “This decreases stress on the animals and increases safety for the animals and their handlers.”
The microneedle platform is among the latest applications the Nguyen Research Group is exploring in the arena of vaccine/drug delivery, tissue regenerative engineering, “smart” piezoelectric materials, electronic implants, and bioelectronics. Since joining the College of Engineering in 2016, Nguyen has discovered a method of sending electric pulses through a biodegradable polymer to assist with cartilage regeneration; he’s designed a powerful biodegradable ultrasound device that could make brain cancers more treatable; and he used microneedle patches to deliver antibody therapies, which have been proven successful in treating HIV, autoimmune disorders such as multiple sclerosis, and certain types of cancer.
Christina Tamburro, post-award grants and contracts specialist for UConn’s Institute of Materials Science said IMS is grateful to both the Gates Foundation and USDA for supporting Professor Nguyen’s drug delivery research.
“This is a wonderful application of material science and this is what we’re all about. Ultimately, this is going to save lives and it can’t get better than that,” she said.
As the national awardee, Laurencin is recognized for his use of the transforming power of chemistry to improve people’s lives. The hallmark of this contribution is impact: positive impact on people’s lives and positive impact on the economy by creating jobs that produce a significant economic benefit.
Laurencin’s innovations in regenerative engineering and his impact on the fields of biomaterials, nanotechnology, and stem cell science have had an immeasurable impact. As the leading international figure in polymeric biomaterials chemistry and engineering, he has made not only extraordinary scientific contributions, but has contributed through innovation and invention.
In Connecticut, Laurencin was the lead faculty architect for Bioscience Connecticut. Start-up companies he has founded have led to products now on the market. He received the Connecticut Medal of Technology in recognition of his work in the state.
Nationally, Laurencin is a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors, and the first surgeon elected to all 4 of the U.S. National Academies. He serves on the board of directors of the National Academy of Inventors and on the National Academy of Inventors Selection Committee.
He received the National Medal of Technology and Innovation, America’ highest recognition for technological achievement, from the President of the United States. In service to our nation, he serves as Vice-Chair of the National Medal of Technology and Innovation Nomination and Evaluation Committee, appointed by both the Trump and Biden administrations.
Most recently, he received the Inventor of the Year Award presented to the world’s most outstanding recent inventors from the Intellectual Property Owners Education Foundation (IPOEF). The IPOEF’s board of directors voted unanimously for him, recognizing his impact on biomaterials, nanotechnology, stem cell science, and the field of regenerative engineering.
Xiuling Lu has attained the esteemed title of AAPS Fellow, a recognition of her steadfast commitment to pioneering research, marked by its unwavering excellence and innovation, and the transformative effects it has had on patients grappling with unmet medical needs.
An AAPS Fellow is an AAPS member who is recognized as a leader in the pharmaceutical field. Peers recognize Fellows for facing challenges head-on with creative solutions in the discovery, development or regulation of pharmaceuticals and biologics.
The status of Fellow denotes professional excellence and a sustained, positive impact to global health and to the AAPS Community. AAPS Fellows are encouraged to continue to actively contribute to their fields and to AAPS throughout their tenure.
Lu stands as a distinguished luminary in the realm of nanoparticle-based therapeutics and their corresponding product advancement. At UConn, her lab has successfully devised inventive image-guided therapeutic nanoparticle systems, surmounting considerable obstacles within the realm of cancer treatment. Lu’s contributions extend further to a profound comprehension of the challenges associated with designing therapeutic agents, enhancing the bedrock understanding of delivery and treatment barriers.
Lu’s engagement encompasses not only the translation of prospective therapeutics to clinical applications but also the commercialization of nanomedicines. Her resolute dedication to scientific advancement and her altruistic endeavors within the community have merited her a multitude of local and national accolades. Lu has served of Chair of the Faculty at the National Institute for Pharmaceutical Technology and Education, and presently holds the mantle of Associate Director at the Center for Pharmaceutical Processing Research, concurrently serving as a leader in the AAPS Nanotechnology Community.
The morning session was held in the Science 1 Active Learning Classroom.
On May 25, 2023, the Institute of Materials Science (IMS) Industrial Affiliates Program (IAP) held its first in-person annual meeting since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
The meeting began with a welcome message by Dr. Hatice Bodugoz-Senturk, Associate Director of the IMS Industrial Affiliates Program, followed by remarks by Dr. Steven L. Suib, Director of IMS, and Dr. Paul Nahass, Director of the IMS Industrial Affiliates Program. Dr. Bryan Huey, Department Head of Materials Science and Engineering (MSE) gave an overview of the MSE department and its achievements; and Dr. Kelly Burke, Director of the IMS Polymer Program, discussed the latest developments in polymer science.
Dr. Georgios Matheou presents his research at the morning session of the 2003 Annual Meeting
The morning session featured three presentations by IMS faculty members from different departments. Dr. James “Nate” Hohman, Assistant Professor of Chemistry, talked about his research on experimental foundations for next-generation materials and interfaces, and how he uses big science, big data, and big AI to discover new materials for various applications. Dr. Georgios Matheou, Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering, presented his work on predictive modeling and simulation of multi-physics flows, and how he collaborates with industry partners in renewable energy, aerospace, and health care sectors. Dr. Vahid Morovati, Assistant Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, explained his theoretical framework to model the long-term mechanical behavior of elastomeric materials considering damage accumulation and degradation.
The luncheon session featured a keynote address by Dr. Anne D’Alleva, Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs, who shared her vision and goals for UConn’s academic excellence and innovation. She also highlighted the importance and impact of materials science and engineering in addressing the global challenges and opportunities in the 21st century. The luncheon concluded with closing remarks by Dr. Paul Nahass.
IMS Director Dr. Steven L. Suib addresses industry partners, faculty, and students at the 2023 Annual Meeting Luncheon
The meeting was attended by more than 100 participants from industry affiliates and external partners along with IMS faculty, students, and alumni. The meeting also showcased the annual Joint Poster Session by IMS Polymer Program and Materials Science and Engineering (MSE) students, demonstrating their projects and achievements in materials science and engineering. Industry partners were also given tours of core laboratories in the Science 1 building, the new home to IMS.
The IMS Industrial Affiliates Program provides materials characterization services to its industry partners. The program also facilitates collaborations between IMS faculty and students and industry partners on research projects of mutual interest.
The Institute of Materials Science is an interdisciplinary research institution that supports over 100 faculty members from 15 departments across UConn’s schools and colleges. The institute offers advanced degrees in polymer science and materials science, as well as state-of-the-art research facilities for its students and faculty to conduct research that is changing the future of materials science.
The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) awarded four UConn scientists with high-profile grants to fund the acquisition of technology to bolster their research capabilities.
The highly competitive Defense University Research Instrumentation Program (DURIP), offered by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR), the Army Research Office (ARO), and the Office of Naval Research (ONR), funds cutting-edge research projects with potential to assist national defense.
Lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries are one of the most common rechargeable energy storage technologies on the market. As a rule, they are quite safe under normal operating conditions, powerful, and scalable, from smartphones to electric cars. But given the number of Li-ion batteries produced around the world, their relatively small failure rate has still resulted in some high-profile stories of Li-ion batteries going into thermal runaway – an event when a battery catches fire, explodes, and releases toxic gases.
IMS member Naba Karan, an assistant research professor at the Center for Clean Energy Engineering (C2E2) in the School of Engineering, isn’t surprised.
“You can think of them as bombs,” he says, noting the high quantity of chemical energy contained within Li-ion batteries. And he’s looking to blow them up—on purpose.
With funds from the Office of Naval Research, Karan is constructing a facility at UConn that will explode the batteries in a controlled environment to determine critical safety parameters needed for designing advanced engineering protocols to mitigate thermal runaway events. In a military context, this information will help operators of machinery that depend on these high-powered batteries, such as submarines, determine when internal battery temperatures are exceeding safety thresholds. Most crucially, it will allow them to avoid catastrophic failure by diverting some of this heat.
The equipment will be able to analyze thermal characteristics of all types of energy storage technologies, not only Li-Ion batteries. Since it will be one of the only such facilities in the northeast region, Karan anticipates a high degree of interest and collaboration from other universities and companies looking into studying the safety characteristics of existing and emerging battery chemistries.
In a collaborative effort, researchers from the University of Connecticut (led by Profs. Yao Lin, VJ Kumar and Xudong Yao) and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (led by Prof. Jianjun Cheng) have made an advance in the rational design of synthetic polypeptides to develop filament-based hydrogels. The work, conceptualized and realized by the graduate students Tianjian Yang (UConn) and Tianrui Xue (UIUC), has been published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society (JACS) and featured as the cover of the March 6 issue.
The American Chemical Society (ACS) has selected University of Connecticut’s 
