Polymer Science
The Applied Polymeric Materials team develops polymers, coatings and surface treatments with new functionalities and applications. The Applied Polymeric Materials team focuses on the development of the next generation of functional coatings, surfaces and interface design.
The team has core capabilities in multifunctional surfaces which include:
- Interphase/interface design
- Surface modification and activation
- Multifunctional coating technologies
- Industrial adhesion and bonding
- Polymer synthesis, modification and design
- Polymer composites and nanocomposites
Current research is focused on multifunctional coatings and industrial adhesives, such as durable icephobic coatings, insect-phobic coatings, selectively strippable coatings for composite substrates and electro conductive primers which enable the powder coating of plastics. Chemical and surface modification such as surface treatments have been developed for application prior to adhesive bonding or coating to improve adhesion or functionality, along with nano-additives and nanocomposites to improve dispersion/ interaction between different phases.