Rajeswari M. Kasi

Associate Department Head and Professor

Department of Chemistry

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Education

• Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Minnesota, 2004-2006
• Ph.D. University of Massachusetts, Amherst
• M.Sc. Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, India

Research Focus

• Synthesize, characterize, and, thereby, achieve a fundamental understanding of new polymer-based organic and hybrid materials comprising tailored architecture and functionality.
• Development of new synthetic methodologies, modification of existing synthetic routes, multidisciplinary approach to structure-property evaluation, and advanced characterization tools are the overriding factors to rational material design.
• The general research focus areas will include steroid-based biocompatible polymers, responsive materials composed of ionic polymer organogels, and mono or bimetallic inorganic organic hybrid materials.
• Harnessing self-assembly and supramolecular chemistry that occur in the neat and solution states of these well-tailored functional materials, we seek to better understand and resolve some of the issues currently observed in targeted drug delivery vehicles, polyelectrolyte membranes, sensors, and responsive materials.

Awards

• MRS Boston 2010 Best Poster Award – Suk-kyun Ahn and Rajeswari M Kasi, 2010
• National Science Foundation CAREER Award, 2008
• Graduate Admission Test for Engineers (GATE), All India Entrance Examination in Chemistry, Ranked 3 (declined fellowship), 1998
• Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR)/University Grants Commission (UGC), Government of India Fellowship (declined fellowship), 1998
• Merit Scholarship, Department of Chemistry, IIT Madras, India, 8/1996-6/1998
• University Rank, University of Madras, India, 1996

Publications

Templated Supramolecular Structures of Multichromic, Multiresponsive Perylene Diimide-Polydiacetylene Films; IJ Martin, KC Shih, MP Nieh, RM Kasi; Macromolecules 53 (11), 4501-4510

Soft and tough cellulose nanocrystals interlocked with polyacrylate-bearing cyanobiphenyl ionogels through a double network strategy; Njenga, Patrick K.; Masese, Francis K.; Ndaya, Dennis M.; Morales-Acosta, M. Daniela; Eddy, Nicholas; Kasi, Rajeswari M. Soft Matter (2025), 21(9), 1699-1709

Hierarchically Structured Stimuli-Responsive Liquid Crystalline Terpolymer-Rhodamine Dye Conjugates; Vaidya, Samiksha; Sharma, Meenakshi; Bruckner, Christian; Kasi, Rajeswari M.; Molecules (2025), 30(2), 401

Molecular Engineering of Stimuli-Responsive, Functional, Side-Chain Liquid Crystalline Copolymers: Synthesis, Properties and Applications; D Ndaya, R Bosire, S Vaidya, RM Kasi; Polymer Chemistry 11, 5937-5954

Implant dynamics, inner structure, and their impact on drug release of in situ forming implants uncovered through CT imaging; Lin, Xinhao; Al Zouabi, Nour N.; Ward, Lauren Elizabeth; Zhen, Zixuan; Darji, Mittal; Masese, Francis K.; Hargrove, Derek; O′Reilly Beringhs, Andre; Kasi, Rajeswari M.; Li, Qi; et al; Journal of Controlled Release (2024), 375, 802-811

Ndaya, D.; Bosire, R.; Mahajan, L.; Huh, S.; Kasi, R.M. Synthesis of Ordered, Functional, Robust Nanoporous Membranes from Liquid Crystalline Brush-like Triblock Copolymers. Polymer Chemistry, 2018, 9, 1404-1411.

Ghimire, A.; Pattammattel, A.; Maher, C.; Kasi, R.M.; Kumar, C.V. 3-Dimensional Enzyme Biohydrogel for Improved Bioelectocatalysis. Applied Materials and Interfaces, 2017, 9, 42556-42565.

Gopinadhan, M.; Choo, Y.; Kaufman, G.; Rokhlenko, Y.; Mahajan, L.; Ndaya, D.; Kasi, R.M.; Osuji, C.O. Directing block copolymer self-assembly with permanent magnets: photopatterning microdomain alignment and generating oriented nanopores. Molecular Systems Design & Engineering, 2017, 2, 549-559.

Gopinadhan, M.; Choo, Y.; Kawatab, K.; Kaufman, G.; Feng, X.; Di, X.; Rokhlenko, Y.; Mahajan, L.; Ndaya, D.; Kasi, R.M.; Osuji, C.O. Controlling orientational order in block copolymers using low intensity magnetic fields. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2017, 114, E9437-E9444.

Mahajan, L.; Ndaya, D.; Deshmukh, P.; Peng, X.; Gopinadhan, M.; Osuji, C.O.; Kasi, R.M. Optically Active Elastomers from Liquid Crystalline Comb Copolymers with Dual Physical and Chemical Crosslinks. Macromolecules, 2017, 50, 5929-5939.

Deshmukh, P.; Yoon, H.; Cho, S.; Yoon, S.Y.; Zore, O.V.; Kim, T.; Chung, I. Ahn, S-k.; Kasi, R.M. Impact of Poly(ε-caprolactone) Architecture on the Thermomechanical and Shape Memory Properties. Journal of Polymer Science, Polymer Chemistry: Part A, 2017, 55, 3424–3433.

Zore, O.; Pande, P.; Oghenenyerovwo, O.; Basu, A.K.; Kasi, R.M.; Kumar, C.V. NanoArmoring: Strategies for Preparation of Multi-Catalytic Enzyme Polymer Conjugates and Enhancement of High Temperature Biocatalysis. RSC Advances, 2017, 7, 29563 – 29574.

Gonzalez-Fajardo, L.; Mahajan, L.H.; Ndaya, D.; Hargrove, D.; Manautou, J.E.; Liang, B.T.; Chen, M-C.; Kasi, R.M.; Lu; X. Reduced in vivo toxicity of doxorubicin by encapsulation in cholesterol-containing self-assembled nanoparticles. Pharmacological Research, 2016, 107, 93-101.

Riccardi, C.M.; Mistri, D.; Hart, O.; Anuganti, M.; Lin, Y.; Kasi, R.M.; Kumar, C.V. Covalent interlocking of glucose oxidase and peroxidase in the voids of paper: enzyme–polymer “spider webs.” Chemical Communications, 2016, 52, 2593-2596.