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Dr. Krishnamoorti - UH Department of Chemical Engineering
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Dr. Ramanan Krishnamoorti


Dr. Ramanan Krishnamoorti
Dow Chair Professor and Department Chair
Professor of Chemistry


Dept. of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
S222 Engineering Building 1
University of Houston
4800 Calhoun Ave.
Houston, TX 77204-4004
Office Location: S227
Telephone: (713) 743-4307
Fax: (713) 743-4323
E-mail: ramanan "at-sign" uh "dot" edu

 

 

› PROFESSIONAL PREPARATION    › RESEARCH    › PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES    › HONORS   
› PUBLICATIONS

Professional Preparation

— B. Tech Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, 1988
— Ph.D. Chemical Engineering, Princeton University, 1994
— Chemical Engineering, California Institute of Technology, 1994-1995
— Materials Science, Cornell University, 1995-1996

 

RESEARCH INTERESTS (Research Group Web Page)

The goals of my research are to develop materials with tailored properties through a detailed understanding and manipulation of molecular level structure, synthesis and most uniquely processing methodologies. While the importance of structure-property correlations for materials has been recognized, the importance of processing conditions on the evolution of structure and hence properties in the case of soft materials have not been fully understood.

Resulting from the long-chain nature, high viscosities, low diffusion coefficients and rapid vitrification or crystallization, the structure and properties of polymeric materials are significantly affected by their processing. We are pursuing a detailed research program, in collaboration with researchers in industry and national laboratories, to address the role of processing on the structure and properties of multi-phase polymers including polymer blends, block copolymers and microemulsions. Specific research focuses on understanding traditional polyolefin and polydiene materials and developing amphiphilic block, graft and star polymers for a number of technological applications.

The potential for the use of highly anisotropic nanoparticles such as layered silicates and carbon nanotubes dispersed in polymeric matrices promises the ability to develop combinations of physical, mechanical and thermal properties while not increasing weight and thus a new paradigm in materials technology. We have focused our efforts in developing fundamental understanding of the dispersion of the nanoparticles, characterization methodologies that span from the nano to macro length scales, develop correlations to properties and understand how processing can lead to unique microstructures and properties. Specific research focuses on light weighting automobile parts, developing super-strong fibers, strengthened elastomers, materials for fuel cells, longer life lithium ion batteries and improved materials for tissue replacement.

Drug and gene delivery methods are increasingly using bio-inspired membranes as carriers and targeting vehicles. We are currently involved in characterizing and modeling the ability of polymeric materials to provide spatio-temporal stability for such bio-membranes using a range of novel experimental and molecular modeling techniques. Further, we are collaborating with a number of researchers from the medical community in Houston towards the synthesis, characterization and development of delivery vehicles using phospholipids and their polymeric analogs.

Five specific projects that are currently pursued in my research group are:

› Effect of pressure on the phase behavior of polyolefin blends
› Polymer crystallinity in bulk and thin films
› Phase transitions in block copolymers and block copolymer based balanced microemulsions
› Structure and viscoelasticity of macro- and nano-composites
› Structure and transport in biopolymers

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Professional Activities

  • Member: American Institute of Chemical Engineers, American Chemical Society, American Physical Society, Materials Research Society, Society of Rheology.
    • Chairman and Co-organizer of dozens of Sessions and Symposia in Technical Meetings.
    • Editorial Board: Journal of Polymer Science Part B: Polymer Physics (2001 – 2006).
  • Consultant: ExxonMobil Chemical Company (1997 – to date); Fina Chemical Company (2000).

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HONORS & Awards

— 2005: Award for Excellence in Research and Scholarship, University of Houston
— 2001–2006: Editorial Board, Journal of Polymer Science Part B: Polymer Physics
— 2001: Award for Excellence in Research and Scholarship, University of Houston
— 2000: Cullen College of Engineering Junior Faculty Research Award, University of Houston
— 1999: NSF CAREER Award, Division of Materials Research

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PUBLICATIONS Since 1999

› Edited Books:

  1. Filled and Nanocomposite Polymer Materials, Materials Research Society Symposium Proceedings, Vol. 661, Ed. Nakatani A. I., Hjelm R. P., Gerspacher M., and Krishnamoorti R., MRS, Warrendale, PA (2001).
  2. Polymer Nanocomposites – Synthesis, Characterization and Modeling, ACS Symposium Series, Vol. 804, Ed. Krishnamoorti R., and Vaia R. A., ACS, Washington DC (2001).
  3. Mechanical Properties of Nanostructured Materials and Nanocomposites, Materials Research Society Symposium Proceedings, Vol 783, Ed. I. Ovid'ko, C.S.Pande, R. Krishnamoorti, E. Lavernia, and G. Skandan., MRS, Warrendale, PA (2004)

› Journals:

  1. Wang H., Newstein M. C., Krishnan A., Balsara N. P., Garetz B. A., Hammouda B., and Krishnamoorti R., “Ordering Kinetics and Alignment of Block Copolymer Lamellae Under Shear Flow.” Macromolecules 32, 3695 (1999).
  2. Modi M. A., Krishnamoorti R., Tse M. F., and Wang H. -C., “Viscoelastic Characterization Of An Order – Order Transition In A Mixture Of Di And Tri Block Copolymers.” Macromolecules 32, 4088 (1999).
  3. Lefebvre A., Lee J. H., Balsara N. P., Hammouda B., Krishnamoorti R., and Kumar S., “Relationship between Internal Energy and Volume Change of Mixing in Pressurized Polymer Blends.” Macromolecules 32, 5460 (1999).
  4. Lohse D. J., Garner, R. T., Graessley, W. W., and Krishnamoorti, R., “Miscibility of Blends of Saturated Hydrocarbon Elastomers.” Rubber Chemistry and Technology 72, 572 (1999).
  5. Krishnamoorti R., “Thermodynamic Interactions in Blends of Polydienes.” Rubber Chemistry and Technology 72, 580 (1999).
  6. Ren, J., Silva, A. S., and Krishnamoorti, R., “Linear Viscoelasticity of Disordered Polystyrene Polyisoprene Block Copolymer Bases Layered-Silicate Nanocomposites.” Macromolecules 33, 3739 (2000).
  7. Krishnamoorti R., Modi, M. A., Tse, M. F., and Wang, H. -C., “Pathway and Kinetics of Cylinder to Sphere Order - Order Transition in Block Copolymers.” Macromolecules 33, 3803 (2000).
  8. Krishnamoorti R., Silva, A. S., Modi, M. A., and Hammouda, B. “Small Angle Neutron Scattering Study of a Cylinder to Sphere Order-Order Transition In Block Copolymers.” Macromolecules 33, 3810 (2000).
  9. Tse M. F., Wang H. -C., Shaffer T. D., McElrath K. O., Modi M. A., and Krishnamoorti R., “Physical Properties of Isobutylene Based Block Copolymers.” Polymer Engineering & Science 40, 2182 (2000).
  10. Manias E., Chen H., Krishnamoorti R., Genzer J., Kramer E. J., and Giannelis E. P., “Intercalation kinetics of long polymers in 2 nm confinements.” Macromolecules 33, 7955 (2000).
  11. Krishnamoorti R., and Silva A. S., “Rheological Properties of Polymer Layered-Silicate Nanocomposites.” in Polymer Nanocomposites, Eds. T. J. Pinnavaia and G. Beall, J. Wiley & Sons, New York (2000).
  12. K. Yurekli, R. Krishnamoorti, M. F. Tse, K. O. McElrath, A. H. Tsou, and H.-C. Wang, “Structure and Dynamics of Carbon Black Filled Elastomers.” J. Polym. Sci. Part B: Polym. Phys., 39, 256 (2001).
  13. Krishnamoorti R., and Giannelis E. P., “Strain Hardening in Model Polymer Brushes.” Langmuir, 17, 1448 (2001).
  14. Krishnamoorti R., Ren J., and Silva A. S., “Shear Response of Layered Silicate Nanocomposites.” J. Chemical Physics, 114, 4968 (2001).
  15. Lee J. H., Balsara N. P., Krishnamoorti R., Jeon H. S., and Hammouda B., “Designing Balanced Surfactants for Mixtures of Immiscible Polymers.” Macromolecules, 34, 6557 (2001).
  16. Silva A. S., Mitchell C. A., Tse M. F., Wang H. –C., and Krishnamoorti R., “Templating of Cylindrical and Spherical Block Copolymer Microdomains by Layered Silicates.” J. Chemical Physics, 115, 7166 (2001).
  17. Krishnamoorti R., Mitchell C. A., and Silva A. S., “Effect of Silicate Layer Anisotropy on Cylindrical and Spherical Microdomain Ordering in Block Copolymer Nanocomposites.” J. Chemical Physics, 115, 7175 (2001).
  18. Lincoln D. M., Vaia R. A., Wang Z. –G., Hsiao B. S., and Krishnamoorti R., “Temperature Dependence of Polymer Crystalline Morphology in Nylon 6/Montmorillonite Nanocomposites.” Polymer, 42, 9975 (2001).
  19. Vaia R. A., and Krishnamoorti R., “Polymer Nanocomposites: Introduction.” In Polymer Nanocomposites, Eds. R. Krishnamoorti and R. A. Vaia, ACS, Washington, Vol. 804, 1 (2001).
  20. Mitchell C. A., and Krishnamoorti R., “Influence of Layered-Silicates on the Rheological Properties of Diblock Copolymer Nanocomposites.” in Polymer Nanocomposites, Eds. R. Krishnamoorti and R. A. Vaia, ACS, Washington, Vol. 804, 159 (2001).
  21. Krishnamoorti R., and Yurekli K., “Rheology of Polymer Layered Silicate Nanocomposites.” Current Opinion in Colloid and Interface Science, 6, 464 – 470 (2001).
  22. Yurekli K., and Krishnamoorti R., “Dynamic of Block Copolymer Micelles.” Macromolecules, 35, 4075 – 4083 (2002).
  23. Mitchell C. A., and Krishnamoorti R., “Rheological Properties of Diblock Copolymer Layered-Silicate Nanocomposites.” J. Polym. Sci. Part B: Polym. Phys., 40, 1435 – 1443 (2002).
  24. Krishnamoorti R., Graessley W. W., Zirkel A., Richter D., Fetters L. J., and Lohse D. J., “Melt State Polymer Chain Dimensions as a Function of Temperature.” J. Polym. Sci. Part B: Polym. Phys., 40, 1768 – 1776 (2002).
  25. Karim A., Yurekli K., Meredith C., Amis E., and Krishnamoorti R., “Combinational Methods for Polymer Materials Science: Phase Behavior of Nanocomposite Blend Films.” Polymer Engineering and Science, 42, 1836 – 1840 (2002).
  26. Lee J. H., Balsara N. P., Chakraborty A., Krishnamoorti R., and Hammouda B., “Thermodynamics and Phase Behavior of Block Copolymer / Homopolymer Blends with Attractive and Repulsive Interactions.” Macromolecules, 35, 7748 – 7757 (2002).
  27. Mitchell C. A., Bahr J. L., Arepalli S., Tour J. M., and Krishnamoorti R., “Dispersion of Carbon Nanotubes in Polystyrene.” Macromolecules, 35, 8825 – 8830 (2002).
  28. Ren J., Casanueva B. F., Mitchell C. A., Krishnamoorti R., “Disorientation Kinetics of Aligned Polymer Layered Silicate Nanocomposites.” Macromolecules, 36, 4188 – 4194 (2003).
  29. Ren J., and Krishnamoorti R., “Non-linear Viscoelastic Properties of Layered-Silicate Based Intercalated Nanocomposites.” Macromolecules, 36, 4443 – 4451 (2003).
  30. Krishnamoorti R., Rai S., Shek M. B., “Structure and Dynamics of Blends of Diblock Copolymers.” Soft Materials, 1, 263 – 276 (2003).
  31. Lee J. H., Ruegg M. L., Balsara N. P., Zhu Y., Gido S. P., Krishnamoorti R., “Phase Behavior of Highly Immiscible Polymer Blends Stabilized by Balanced Surfactants.” Macromolecules, 36, 6537 – 6548 (2003).
  32. Yurekli K., Karim A., Amis E. J., and Krishnamoorti R., “Influence of Layered-Silicates on PS – PVME Blend Phase Behavior.” Macromolecules, 36, 7256 – 7267 (2003).
  33. Kuppa V., Menakanit S., Krishnamoorti R., Manias E., “Simulation insights on the structure of nanoscopically confined poly(ethylene oxide)." J. Polym. Sci. Part B: Polym. Phys., 41, 3285-3298 (2003).
  34. Pham J. Q., Mitchell C. A., Bahr J. L., Tour J. M., Krishnamoorti R., Green P. F., “The Glass Transition of Polymer - Single Walled Carbon Nanotube Composite Films.” J. Polym. Sci. Part B: Polym. Phys., 41, 3339 – 3345 (2003).
  35. Yurekli K., Karim A., Amis E. J., and Krishnamoorti R., “Influence Of Layered Silicates On The Phase Separated Morphology Of PS – PVME Blends.” Macromolecules, 37, 507 – 515 (2004).
  36. Putz K., Mitchell C. A., Krishnamoorti R., Green P. F., “Elastic Modulus of Single – Walled Carbon Nanotube – PMMA Nanocomposites.” J. Polym. Sci. Part B: Polym. Phys., 42, 2286 – 2293 (2004).
  37. Lincoln D. M., Vaia R. A., Krishnamoorti R., “Morphology Development in Isothermally Crystallized Nylon 6 / Montmorillonite Nancomposites.” Macromolecules, 37, 4554 – 4561 (2004).
  38. Hsieh A. J., Moy P., Beyer F. L., Madison P., Napadensky, E., Ren J., Krishnamoorti R., “Mechanical response and rheological properties of polycarbonate layered-silicate nanocomposites.” Polymer Engineering and Science, 44, 825 - 837 (2004).
  39. Mitchell, C.A. and R. Krishnamoorti, “Nonisothermal Crystallization Kinetics of In-Situ Polymerized Poly(e-caprolactone) Functionalized- SWNT Nanocomposites,” Polymer, 46, 8796–8804, (2005).
  40. Shi, X., J.L. Hudson, P.P. Spicer, J.M. Tour, R. Krishnamoorti, and A.G. Mikos,“Rheological Behavior and Mechanical Characterization of Injectable Poly(propylene fumarate)/Single-Walled Carbon Nanotube Composites for Bone Tissue Engineering,” Nanotechnology, 16, S531–S538, (2005).
  41. Xu, L., S. Reeder, M. Thopasridharan, J. Ren, D.A. Shipp, and R. Krishnamoorti,“Structure and Melt Rheology of Polystyrene Based Layered Silicate Nanocomposites,” Nanotechnology, 16, S514–S521, (2005).
  42. Yurekli, K., E. Conley and R. Krishnamoorti, “Effect of Laponite and a Non-Ionic Polymer on the Absorption Character of Cationic Dye Solutions,” Langmuir, 21, 5825–5830, (2005).
  43. Chatterjee, T.; Yurekli, K.; Hadjiev, V. G.; Krishnamoorti, R.,"Single-walled carbon nanotube dispersions in poly(ethylene oxide)," Advanced Functional Materials 2005, 15, (11), 1832-1838.
  44. Hadjiev, V. G.; Mitchell, C. A.; Arepalli, S.; Bahr, J. L.; Tour, J. M.; Krishnamoorti, R., "Segmental dynamics of head-to-head polypropylene and polyisobutylene in their blend and pure components," Journal of Chemical Physics 2005, 122, (12).
  45. Krygier, E.; Lin, G. X.; Mendes, J.; Mukandela, G.; Azar, D.; Jones, A. A.; Pathak, J. A.; Colby, R. H.; Kumar, S. K.; Floudas, G.; Krishnamoorti, R.; Faust, R., "Segmental dynamics of head-to-head polypropylene and polyisobutylene in their blend and pure components," Macromolecules 2005, 38, (18), 7721-7729.
  46. Goel, V.; Chatterjee, T.; Bombalski, L.; Yurekli, K.; Matyjaszewski, K.; Krishnamoorti, R., "Viscoelastic properties of silica-grafted poly(styrene-acrylonitrile) nanocomposites," Journal of Polymer Science Part B-Polymer Physics 2006, 44, (14), 2014-2023.
  47. Shi, X. F.; Hudson, J. L.; Spicer, P. P.; Tour, J. M.; Krishnamoorti, R.; Mikos, A. G., "Injectable nanocomposites of single-walled carbon nanotubes and biodegradable polymers for bone tissue engineering," Biomacromolecules 2006, 7, (7), 2237-2242.
  48. Taranekar, P.; Abdulbaki, M.; Krishnamoorti, R.; Phanichphant, S.; Waenkaew, P.; Patton, D.; Fulghum, T.; Advincula, R., "Structure and band-gap design of a new series of light-emitting poly(cyanofluorene-alt-o/m/p-phenylenevinylene)-based copolymers for light-emitting diodes," Macromolecules 2006, 39, (11), 3848-3854.
  49. Chatterjee, T.; Krishnamoorti, R., "Dynamic consequences of the fractal network of nanotube-poly(ethylene oxide) nanocomposites," Physical Review E 2007, 75, (5), Part 1 - 050403.
  50. Heinz, H.; Vaia, R. A.; Krishnamoorti, R.; Farmer, B., "Self-assembly of alkylammonium chains on montmorillonite: Effect of chain length, head group structure, and cation exchange capacity," L. Chemistry of Materials 2007, 19, (1), 59-68.
  51. Krishnamoorti, R., "Strategies for dispersing nanoparticles in polymers," Mrs Bulletin 2007, 32, (4), 341-347.
  52. Mitchell, C. A.; Krishnamoorti, R., "Dispersion of single-walled carbon nanotubes in poly(ε-caprolactone)," Macromolecules 2007, 40, (5), 1538-1545.
  53. Ruegg, M. L.; Reynolds, B. J.; Lin, M. Y.; Lohse, D. J.; Krishnamoorti, R.; Balsara, N. P., "Effect of pressure on a multicomponent A/B/A-C polymer blend with attractive and repulsive interactions," Macromolecules 2007, 40, (2), 355-365.
  54. Krishnamoorti, R. & Vaia, R. A. Polymer Nanocomposites. Journal of Polymer Science Part B-Polymer Physics 45, 3252-3256 (2007).
  55. Chatterjee, T., Mitchell, C. A., Hadjiev, V. G. & Krishnamoorti, R. Hierarchical polymer-nanotube composites. Advanced Materials 19, 3850-+ (2007).
  56. Semler, J. J., Jhon, Y. K., Tonelli, A., Beevers, M., Krishnamoorti, R. & Genzer, J. Facile method of controlling monomer sequence distributions in random copolymers. Advanced Materials 19, 2877-+ (2007).
  57. Watanabe, H., Matsumiya, Y., Takada, J., Sasaki, H., Matsushima, Y., Kuriyama, A., Inoue, T., Ahn, K. H., Yu, W. & Krishnamoorti, R. Viscoelastic and dielectric behavior of a polyisoprene/poly(4-tert-butyl styrene) miscible blend. Macromolecules 40, 5389-5399 (2007).
  58. Putz, K., Krishnamoorti, R. & Green, P. F. The role of interfacial interactions in the dynamic mechanical response of functionalized SWNT-PS nanocomposites. Polymer 48, 3540-3545 (2007).

Complete list of publications

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