MEMS Seminar: Emily Pentzer, "Leveraging Polymer Chemistry and Emulsions for Energy Applications"

Thomas Lord Department of Mechanical Engineering & Materials Science, Spring 2025 Seminar Series, welcomes Emily Pentzer, Professor of Chemistry Materials Science and Engineering at Texas A & M, who will be giving a talk on "Leveraging Polymer Chemistry and Emulsions for Energy Applications."

Abstract: The Pentzer group uses fundamental polymer chemistry and Pickering emulsions to prepare composite structures and establish structure-function-application relationships. Emulsions are biphasic systems in which droplets of one liquid (e.g., oil) are dispersed in a continuous phase of another (e.g., water), and those stabilized by particles are called Pickering emulsions. These phase-separated systems provide an ideal platform for the synthesis of composites of disparate materials when combined with polymerizations. Specifically, the Pentzer group developed 2D particle surfactants that could be used for different fluid-fluid interfaces, including oil-water, oil-oil, and ionic liquid-oil, and they combine the high interfacial area with simple polymerizations to fabricate hybrid structures. For example, organization of polymers at the fluid-fluid interface can produce liquid-filled capsules for carbon capture or thermal energy management, as well as functional additives for additive manufacturing. This presentation will describe the production of polymer composites including porous scaffolds, stabilized bubbles, capsules of functional liquids, and polymer particles armored with inorganic particles; the impact of composition and architecture will be discussed, focusing on direct air capture of CO2 and thermal energy management.

Bio.: EMILY PENTZER is Professor of chemistry materials science and engineering, and chemical engineering at Texas A&M University, where she also serves as Associate Dean of Research for the College of Arts and Sciences. She received a BS in chemistry from Butler University (2005) and PhD in chemistry from Northwestern University (2010), where her thesis focused on preparing and polymerizing unsaturated lactones and lactams. She then worked with Professor Todd Emrick in the Polymer Science and Engineering Department at UMass Amherst where she focused on the synthesis and assembly of electronically active materials for organic photovoltaics. In 2013, Dr. Pentzer started her independent career as an assistant professor of chemistry at Case Western Reserve University and she moved to Texas A&M in 2019.