People

Faculty

Nicolas Alvarez

Primary Investigator

Nicolas J. Alvarez earned a BS in Chemical Engineering from the University of Florida in 2006 and a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University in 2011. After three years of postdoctoral work at the Technical University of Denmark in Lyngby, he joined the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering at Drexel as an Assistant Professor in 2014.

His lab develops experimental tools to characterize the behavior of polymers and surfactants in nonlinear flows, at interfaces, and in bulk. These tools are used to understand how certain processing windows lead to advantageous material properties. One such tool, used for the characterization of extensional rheology, has been commercialized by Alvarez and colleagues.

To support research goals, Alvarez is developing a consortium of companies to develop analytical tools to better understand the relationship between chemical structure, processing, and material performance. To prepare Drexel students for real-world engineering problems, Alvarez teaches an elective course on non-Newtonian fluid mechanics to introduce students to materials encountered in modern-day chemical plants.

Dissertation: An Experimental and Theoretical Study of Surfactant Dynamics at Microscale Interfaces

Publications: Google Scholar for Nicolas J. Alvarez

Staff

Thamires Lima

Assistant Research Professor

Google Scholar

Developing A New Drug-delivery System Using Foam

Project Overview / Foams, Self-assembly and Soft Matter

Foam can be used as a drug delivery method with an essential benefit that it requires less material

A mechanism for improved talc pleurodesis via foam delivery

Publication / Foams

Talcum powder is recognized as the leading drug for pleurodesis, a treatment of choice for malignant pleural effusions.

Heedong Yoon

Postdoctoral Researcher

Google Scholar

Determining the Printing Condition by Investigating the Spreading of the filament

Project Overview / Extensional Rheology

Determining the proper spreading of filament is extremely important for defining the internal structure and mechanical performance of

The Effect of Pyrolysis on the Chemical, Thermal and Rheological Properties of Pitch

Publication / Polymer Dynamics

Pitch-based carbon fibers are of considerable interest as high-performance materials. There are reports over the last several decades

Students

Mohanad Idrees

Ph.D. Candidate

Co-advisor
Dr. Palmese

Interfacial failure of interleaved composites

Performance of Additive Manufactured Glass Fiber Laminates

Project Overview / Additive Manufacturing

The effect of resins’ toughness on composite interlaminar toughness Additive manufacturing (AM) offers excellent versatility over traditional composite

The effect of resin-rich layers on mechanical properties of 3D printed woven fiber-reinforced composites

Publication / Additive Manufacturing

Composites for aerospace and automotive industries trend towards maximizing fiber volume fraction. In such applications, the design criteria

Amir Azimi

Ph.D. Candidate

Google Scholar

Correlations Between Chemorheology, Printing Parameters, and Print Quality in 3D Direct Ink Writing

Project Overview / Additive Manufacturing, Droplet and Filament Spreading, Spreading Dynamics

Direct ink writing 3D printers offer many advantages, ranging from the capability to handle a wide range of

Ahmed Ibrahim

Ph.D. Candidate

Co-advisor
Dr. Palmese

Additive Manufacturing of Composite Materials

Project Overview / Additive Manufacturing

Two types of composites are featured in this project, fiber reinforced composites (FRCs) and spatially resolved multi-resin composites.

Ann Aisling

Ph.D. Candidate

Fundamental Characterization of Elongation Behavior of Viscoelastic and Viscoplastic Materials

Project Overview / Spray Drying

Polymer and Suspension behavior under various stress fields is used in the design of many applications. There is

Nichole O'Neill

Ph.D. Candidate

Co-advisor
Dr. Schweitzer-Stenner

Investigation of Peptide-based Models for Drug Delivery

Project Overview / Self-assembly and Soft Matter

Hydrogels formed by the self-assembly of biopolymers such as peptides and proteins are currently being investigated as biomaterials

Jesse Starger

Ph.D. Candidate

Co-advisor
Dr. Cairncross

Fundamental Studies and Engineering of Supersaturation Gradients for Solution-Phase Crystallization of Perovskite Photovoltaics

Project Overview / Thin Film Manufacturing

This project aims to understand the relationship between coating process conditions and crystal thin film morphology for next-generation

Yao Zhou

Ph.D. Candidate

Modeling the Transport and Equilibrium of Surfactants at the Cylindrical Fluid-fluid Interface

Project Overview / Interfacial Transport

Researchers have spent much time understanding surfactant behavior when it applies to spherical geometries. Compared to planar and

Emre Baburoglu

Ph.D. Candidate

Co-advisor
Dr. Tang

Investigation of Dynamic Colloidal Thin Film Microstructure Using Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS)

Project Overview / Thin Film Manufacturing

Understanding the microstructural formation of colloidal films under varying processing conditions is relevant in applications like paints, food

Shihao Pan

Ph.D. Candidate

Co-advisor
Dr. Tang

Crosslinked Thermosetting Polymers Used as Binder to Replace the PVDF in NMC Cathode Electrode

Project Overview / Self-assembly and Soft Matter, Thin Film Manufacturing

The binder in lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) is used to hold electrode particles together and to bind the electrode

Correlating the particle connectivity of different thickness electrodes on its electrode performance using 1-dimension pair distribution function

Project Overview / Self-assembly and Soft Matter, Thin Film Manufacturing

Coating is the core process in the electrode manufacturing of lithium ion batteries (LIBs). Two important coating parameters

Rachel Coler

Ph.D. Candidate

Analysis of Shaving Foam Physicochemical Properties

Project Overview / Foams

Shaving cream-based foams composed of stearic acid (SA), triethanolamine (TEOA), and water are stable at long times. Further,

Yubin Ying

Ph.D. Candidate

Active projects include the fiber flying machine for additive manufacturing.

Alumni

Aamir Shabbir

Ph.D.

Nonlinear Shear and Uniaxial Extensional Rheology of Polyether-ester-sulfonate Copolymer Ionomer Melts

Publication / Shear Rheology

Abstract We present unique nonlinear shear and extensional rheology data of unentangled amorphous polyester ionomers based on polyethers

Brittle Fracture in Associative Polymers: The Case of Ionomer Melts

Publication / Polymer Dynamics

Abstract Ionomers are interesting due to their applications in coatings, adhesives, films and packaging materials. A study of

Linear Viscoelastic and Dielectric Relaxation Response of Unentangled UPy-Based Supramolecular Networks

Publication / Polymer Dynamics

Abstract Supramolecular polymers possess versatile mechanical properties and a unique ability to respond to external stimuli. Understanding the

Effect of Hydrogen Bonding on Linear and Nonlinear Rheology of Entangled Polymer Melts

Publication / Polymer Dynamics

Abstract Supramolecular polymers are used in many applications such as adhesives, coatings, cosmetics, and printing. Characterizing the dynamics

Samantha Morelly

Ph.D.

Co-advised by Dr. Maureen Tang

Dissertation: Processing-Structure-Performance Relationships in Li-Ion Batteries: A Rheological Perspective

Correlating Processing Conditions to Short- and Long-Range Order in Coating and Drying Lithium-Ion Batteries

Publication / Self-assembly and Soft Matter

Abstract Processing conditions of battery slurries into electrodes are known to affect final battery performance. However, there is

Characterizing Long-chain Branching in Commercial HDPE Samples via Linear Viscoelasticity and Extensional Rheology

Publication / Extensional Rheology

Abstract It is well established that polymer chain architecture and the distribution of molecular weight play a key

Effect of Finite Extensibility on Nonlinear Extensional Rheology of Polymer Melts

Publication / Extensional Rheology

Abstract We recently showed that two systems have the same nonlinear flow dynamics if they have (1) the

Three-Dimensional Visualization of Conductive Domains in Battery Electrodes with Contrast-Enhancing Nanoparticles

Publication / Self-assembly and Soft Matter

Abstract Replacing conductive carbon black with commercial carbon-coated iron nanoparticles yields an effective contrast-enhancing agent to differentiate between

Short-range Contacts Govern the Performance of Industry-relevant Battery Cathodes

Publication / Self-assembly and Soft Matter

Abstract Fundamental understanding of how processing affects composite battery electrode structure and performance is still lacking, especially for

Grafting-through ROMP for Gels with Tailorable Moduli and Crosslink Densities

Publication / Shear Rheology

Abstract A new type of chemically-crosslinked polymeric network was synthesized by grafting-through ring-opening metathesis polymerization (gt-ROMP) using well-defined

The Impotence of Non-Brownian Particles on the Gel Transition of Colloidal Suspensions

Publication / Extensional Rheology

Abstract Understanding interfacial phenomena at elevated pressure is crucial to the design of a variety of processes, modeling

Direct Observation of Active Material Interactions in Flowable Electrodes Using X-ray Tomography

Publication

Abstract Understanding electrical percolation and charging mechanisms in electrochemically active biphasic flowable electrodes is critical for enabling scalable

Christopher Henry

Ph.D.

Dissertation: Processing-Structure-Property Relationships in Ultra High Molecular Weight Polyethylene Fibers

Correlation Between Processing and Material Strength: Case of UHMWPE

Project Overview / Fiber Spinning

This collaborative effort examines the relationship between processing conditions and material performance in high impact (high strain rate)

Direct Measure of Crystalline Domain Size, Distribution, and Orientation in Polyethylene Fibers

Publication / Fiber Spinning

Abstract High performance ultra high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) fibers are primarily composed of extended chain (shish) and

The Evolution of Crystalline Structures During Gel Spinning of Ultra-high Molecular Weight Polyethylene Fibers

Publication / Fiber Spinning

Abstract Most studies are focused on the final mechanical properties of the fiber and the processing window required

Novel Processing Apparatus to Control Multiscale Morphology in Ultra High Molecular Weight Polyethylene Fibers

Publication / Fiber Spinning

Abstract This work focuses on the use of a novel apparatus to study gel-spinning of ultra-high molecular weight

Lavenia Thursch

Ph.D.

Dissertation: Glycine-X-Glycine Peptide Gels: Self-Assembly Mechanism and Rheological Properties

The impact of thermal history on the structure of glycylalanylglycine ethanol/water gels

Project Overview / Self-assembly and Soft Matter

This work revisits several open questions regarding the mechanisms of GAG fibril formation and structure as a function

Exploring the gel phase of cationic glycylalanylglycine in ethanol/water. II. Spectroscopic, kinetic and thermodynamic studies

Publication / Self-assembly and Soft Matter

Abstract HypothesisRecently, we reported a three-dimensional phase diagram for the gelation of cationic tripeptide glycylalanylglycine (GAG) in water–ethanol

Exploring the gel phase of cationic glycylalanylglycine in ethanol/water. I. Rheology and microscopy studies

Publication / Self-assembly and Soft Matter

Abstract HypothesisThe cationic tripeptide glycylalanylglycine (GAG) self-assembles into long, thick crystalline fibrils in an ethanol/water solution. At sufficiently