Polymer Group - Seminar series 2024

Please join us for the RACI QLD Polymer Group Seminar series for 2024.
Guest presenter: Dr Nathaniel Corrigan
Title: Expanding 3D Printed Material Chemistry through Controlled Radical Polymerisation
A series of student talks will also be showcased with details to come.

Abstract: The majority of materials 3D-printed using vat photopolymerization techniques are prepared by uncontrolled polymerization methods, which have very limited control at the molecular level over polymer chain growth. As an alternative, reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization allows a much higher degree of control over polymer chain growth processes, in turn allowing greater opportunities to prepare polymer materials with tightly controlled properties and tunable functions. However, the application of RAFT polymerization to 3D printing has only become viable relatively recently, through the development of more rapid and oxygen tolerant photoinduced RAFT polymerization processes. As a result of their ability to reversibly deactivate active polymer chains, RAFT polymerization processes lead to 3D-printed polymer networks with more homogeneous network structures, which impacts the overall bulk mechanical properties. The high retention and reactivation of thiocarbonylthio chain ends also allows in-situ block copolymer formation and a simple route to nanostructured polymer and hybrid organic/inorganic materials. This presentation will discuss how RAFT polymerization can be used to prepare complex materials with controlled hierarchical structures and spatially differentiated properties, all via straightforward and highly-accessible 3D printing techniques.

Bio: Nathaniel Corrigan is an ARC DECRA fellow and lecturer working in the School of Chemical Engineering at UNSW Sydney. He received his PhD in Chemical Engineering in 2019, with his thesis focussing on the application of visible light-mediated reversible deactivation radical polymerization (RDRP) to flow chemistry for upscaled polymer production and molecular weight distribution control. During his postdoctoral research, he focused on developing additive manufacturing processes by implementing visible light photochemistry and RDRP, which led to the development of systems capable of 3D printing nanostructured hybrid materials. He is interested in simplifying the production of functional and nanostructured polymer materials, visible light-mediated photochemistry, and photopolymerization.