Call for Papers

Please contact the symposium organizers with questions.

Traditional polymer networks are typical composed of flexible polymer chains that are chemically crosslinked by covalent bonds. Recent research effort have been devoted to engineering unconventional polymer networks by incorporating dynamic bonds, chemical diversity, or modulating network architectures. For example, polymer networks with dynamic bonds have shown great capability in adapting their environment and exhibiting unprecedented properties, such as ultra-stretchability, high-toughness, recyclability and self-healing, as well as enhanced mass transport and thermal, ionic, or electrical conductivities. In this field, dynamic bonds, including dynamic covalent bonds and physical bonds (such as ioinic bonds, hydrogen bonds, metal-ligand coordination, and hydrophobic interactions), have been utilized to program macroscopic response of polymer networks by regulating their molecular architectures. As another example, polymer networks with mechanochemicallly responsive groups have deomstrated unconventional properties such as color-change, molecular releas, self-strengthening and self-growing, in response to typically destructive loads. Moreover, polymer networks with different polarities such as color-change, molecular release, self-strengthening and self-growing, in response to typical destrucitve loads. Moreover, polymer networks with different polarities or stimuli-responsive bonds can be reconfigured or even degraded with external stimuli or solvent. These unique properties of polymer networks have led to many innovative advances in different areas including wearable/implantable devices, smart windows, soft robotics, stretchable (bio)electronics, safe batteries, and 3D/4D printing. This symposium will bring together researchers working in the field of polymer networks with unconventional bonds and architectures. Both experimental and theoretical contributions, including computational studies, dedicated to the understanding and advancement of the field of unconventional polymer networks are anticipated.

Topics will include:

• Self-healing polymer networks
• Self-strengthening/softening polymer networks
• Self-growing polymer networks
• Self-adaptive polymer networks
• Stimuli-responsive polymer networks
• Programmable polymer networks
• Toughening hydrogels and elastomers
• Polymer mechanochemistry
• Degradable polymers with active chemical groups
• Chemical recyclable polymer networks
• CO2 or light tunable polymer networks.
• Constructive polymer networks in response to destructive environmental stressors
• Design unconventional polymers for additive manufacturing

Invited Speakers (tentative):

• Zhenan Bao (Stanford University, USA)
• Stephan Craig (Duke University, USA)
• Costantino Creton (ESPCI Paris, France)
• Filip Du Prez (Ghent University, Belgium)
• Jianping Gong (Hokkaido University, Japan)
• Zhibin Guan (University of California, Irvine, USA)
• Jeremiah Johnson (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA)
• Julia Kalow (Northwestern University, USA)
• Ali Khademhosseini (Terasaki Institute, USA)
• Stuart Rowan (The University of Chicago, USA)
• Takamasa Sakai (The University of Tokyo, Japan)
• Zhigang Suo (Harvard University, USA)
• Mark Tibbitt (ETH Zürich, Switzerland)
• Marek Urban (Clemson University, USA)
• Tao Xie (Zhejiang University, China)
• Xuzhou Yan (Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China)
• Xuanhe Zhao (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA)

Symposium Organizers