Faculty Research
Alphabetical · By research area

Our group is interested in studying the behavior and fundamental properties of soft, responsive, functional, polymeric materials. Research is currently distributed between four different projects:

1. Surface Plasmon Resonance Spectroscopy of Confined Materials (Involves instrument building and design!)
2. Block Copolymer/Au Nanoparticle Thin Films for Biomolecule Sensing
3. Block Copolymers as Antibacterial Coatings
4. Asymmetric Nanoparticle Functionalization (Janus Particles)

The different projects in the group allow the researcher to develop and characterize polymeric materials, use them for a variety of applications, and design/build novel analytical tools for further characterization. Researchers in the lab will be exposed to a comprehensive suite of polymer, surface, and colloid characterization techniques such as (but not limited to): gel permeation chromatography, dynamic and static light scattering, quartz crystal microbalance, ellipsometry, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, contact angle measurements, transmission and scanning electron microscopy, optical and fluorescence microscopy, atomic force microscopy for imaging and force spectroscopy, ultraviolet-visible light reflectance spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared reflectance spectroscopy, and surface plasmon resonance spectroscopy. All characterization tools are either available to the researcher directly in the lab (or on campus), or will be built in the lab as part of the individual projects.

Each project offers postdoctoral scholars, graduate students, and undergraduate students alike plenty of room to make individual contributions leading to new research directions. The projects are also multidisciplinary, requiring collaborations within the department as well as in various departments across campus. These collaborations will give the researcher a variety of perspectives and expose them to other areas of science leading to a well rounded knowledge and appreciation of a variety of disciplines.

Please feel free to contact me for more information on any of the projects or to inquire about positions available in the lab.

Selected Publications

Serpe, M.J.; Kersey, F.R.; Whitehead, J.R.; Wilson, S.M.; Clark, R.L.; Craig S.L. “A Simple and Practical Spreadsheet-Based Method to Extract Single-Molecule Dissociation Kinetics from Variable Loading-Rate Force Spectroscopy Data” J. Phys. Chem. C, 2008, 112(49); 19163-19167.

Serpe, M.J.; Rivera, M.; Kersey, F.R.; Clark, R.L.; Craig, S.L. “Time and Distance Dependence of Reversible Polymer Bridging Followed by Single-Molecule Force Spectroscopy” Langmuir, 2008, 24(9); 4738-4742.

Serpe, M.J.; Craig, S.L. “Physical Organic Chemistry of Supramolecular Polymers” Langmuir, 2007, 23(4); 1626-1634.

Kim, J.; Serpe, M.J.; Lyon, L.A. “Photo-Switchable Microlens Arrays” Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 2005, 44 (9), 1333-1336.

Serpe, M.J.; Yarmey, K.A.; Nolan, C.M.; Lyon, L.A. “Doxorubicin Uptake and Release from Microgel Thin Films” Biomacromolecules, 2005, 6(1), 408-413.

Serpe, M.J.; Lyon, L.A. “Optical and Acoustic Studies of pH-Dependent Swelling in Microgel Thin Films” Chem. Mat., 2004, 16(22), 4373-4380.

Nolan, C. M.; Serpe, M. J.; Lyon, L. A. “Thermally Modulated Insulin Release from Microgel Thin Films” Biomacromolecules, 2004, 5(5), 1940-1946.

Serpe, M.J.; Kim, J.; Lyon, L.A. “Colloidal Hydrogel Microlenses” Adv. Mater., 2004, 16(2), 184-187.

Serpe, M.J.; Jones, C.D.; Lyon, L.A. “Layer-by-Layer Deposition of Thermoresponsive Microgel Thin Films” Langmuir, 2003, 19(21), 8759-8764.