Liquid Crystalline Polymers

Professor Lei Zhu received his B.S. degree in Materials Chemistry in 1993 and M.S. degree in Polymer Chemistry and Physics in 1996 from Fudan University. He received his Ph.D. degree in Polymer Science from University of Akron in 2000. After two-year post-doctoral experience at the Maurice Morton Institute, University of Akron, he joint Institute of Materials Science and Department of Chemical, Materials and Biomolecular Engineering at University of Connecticut, as an assistant professor. In 2007, he was promoted to associate professor with tenure. In 2009, he moved to Department of Macromolecular Science and Engineering at Case Western Reserve University as an Associate Professor. In 2013, he was promoted to full Professor. His research interests include high dielectric and ferroelectric polymers for advanced electrical applications, organic-inorganic hybrid nanomaterials, and supramolecular self-assembly of liquid crystalline polymers. He is recipient of NSF Career Award, 3M Non-tenured Faculty Award, DuPont Young Professor Award, and Rogers Teaching Excellence Award. He is author and co-author of 182 refereed journal publications and 7 book chapters. Professor Christopher Li received his B.S. from the University of Science and Technology of China in 1995 and his Ph.D. from the Department of Polymer Science, The University of Akron in December, 1999. After working as a post-doc at the Maurice Morton Institute of Polymer Science, UA for 2 years, he joined Drexel University, the Department of Materials Science and Engineering in January, 2002 as an assistant professor, and was promoted to associate and full professor in 2007, and 2011, respectively. His research focuses on understanding structure-morphology-property relationship of complex soft and hybrid materials. His group is interested in various ordered polymeric systems, including crystalline, liquid crystalline and block copolymers for energy storage and biomedical applications. Christopher Li is a Fellow of American Physical Society and North American Thermal Analysis Society (NATAS). He is on the Editorial Advisory Board of Macromolecules, ACS Macro Letters, Polymer, and Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry.

Part I: Synthesis, Self-Assembly, and Dynamics.- Structure and Assembly of Liquid Crystalline Block Copolymers.- Columnar Phase-Forming Polymers.- Liquid Crystalline Polymers Derived from Disc-Shaped Molecules.- Mesogen-Jacketed Liquid Crystalline Polymers: Molecular Design and Synthesis.- Supramolecular Self-Assembly of Discotic Liquid Crystalline LEGOs.- Structure and Dynamics of Liquid Crystalline Polymers.- Highlighting Solid-Like Behaviours in Liquid State of Polymers, Liquid Crystals, Glass Formers and Molecular Fluids.- Part II: Functional Liquid Crystalline Polymers and Applications.- Anisotropic Liquid Crystal Networks from Reactive Mesogens.- Liquid Crystalline Conjugated Polymers with Optoelectronic Functions.- Liquid Crystalline Conjugated Polymers.- New Stimuli Responsive Liquid Crystalline Polymer Architectures.- Characterizations of Nanocomposites of Liquid Crystalline Polymers.- Fullerene Liquid Crystals.- Photodeformable Crosslinked Liquid Crystalline Polymers.- LightSensitive Azobenzene Containing Liquid Crystalline Polymers.- Photoresponsive Liquid Crystalline Polymers.- Photoactive Liquid Crystalline Polymers.- Photoalignment of Liquid Crystal Molecules using Fluorine-Containing Polyimides.- Highly Flame-Retardant Liquid Crystalline Polymers.- Gas Permeation and Barrier Properties of Liquid Crystalline Polymers.