Pooja Bhat Mulki

Project

Exploration of the connection between macroscopic stress/strain to microscopic forces based on simple structural models
The main objective of my research is to develop materials containing sacrificial bonds that adapt to repetitive stress. Sacrificial bonds in polymers subjected to tensile stress give rise to free radicals upon bond breakage. If such a system contains other free radical accepting polymeric chains, new bond formation is initiated. Alternatively, the material may undergo a reverse reaction upon stress removal if the initial state is more favorable. However, with repeated stress, the system’s properties also change continuously, which in turn alters its energy landscape. The system will continue to stay in cross-linked state if the energy barrier to undergo the reverse reaction is too high. In other words, the system adapts to external stress. It is interesting to see how such systems behave when application of stress is completely seized. I will address these questions through atomistic simulations and analytic modeling.

First supervisor

PD Dr. Michael Walter