Speaker: Prof. Sadhan C. Jana
Affiliation: Department of Polymer Engineering, University of Akron, USA
Location: Mechanical Engineering Building, 5 King’s College Road, Room 331
Date and time: June 22nd, 2018, 2 -3 pm
Join us, this event is open to everyone!
Abstract
This talk will first cover an overview of the field of multi-functional polymeric materials with special emphasis on sustainability followed by discussion of several case studies drawn from our work on bi-component polymer nanofibers, mesoporous aerogels, aerogel foams, and ceramic oxide nanofibers. In the first case study, nanofibers of interpenetrating network obtained from a hydrophilic and a hydrophobic polymer via gas jet method are used in efficient removal of water droplets from ultralow sulfur diesel fuel. In the second case study, strategies for manufacturing of open and closed cell aerogel foams from high internal phase emulsion methods are discussed. The resultant materials contain interconnected meso- and macroporosity and show fast absorption of hydrocarbon liquids, high permeability of air, and high efficiency of breaking water-in-oil emulsions. In the third case study, the gas jet fiber method is used in the fabrication of 1-100 µm long nanofibers of semiconducting metal oxides of TiO2, TiO2/ITO, and TiO2/V2O5 with side-by-side, core-shell, and nanorods-on-nanofiber arrangements offering stronger photocatalytic degradation of ethanol and splitting of water molecules under ultra-violet and visible lights.
Speaker brief biography
Dr. Sadhan C. Jana is currently the Benjamin Franklin Goodrich Endowed Professor and Chair of Department of Polymer Engineering at The University of Akron. He received Ph.D. degree in chemical engineering from Northwestern University in 1993, worked at General Electric Corporate Research Center for four years, and joined the University of Akron in 1998. Dr. Jana is the recipient of National Science Foundation Faculty Early CAREER Award, Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE) Fred E. Schwab Award for outstanding achievements in education, George Stafford Whitby Award for distinguished research and education from the American Chemical Society (ACS) Rubber Division, SR Palit Memorial Lectureship award from Society of Polymer Science India, Kamath Memorial Lectureship award from the Indian Institute of Chemical Engineers, and Honorary Professorship from National University of Colombia, Bogota. He is a Fellow and Honored Service Member of SPE. He is an associate editor of Polymer Engineering & Science journal. In addition, he serves in the editorial boards of a number of peer-reviewed journals.
Prof. Jana’s lecture is hosted by the Toronto Institute for Advanced Manufacturing.