Anna C. Balazs
Professor, Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering
1233 Benedum Hall
412-648-9250, 9639(fax)
balazs1@engr.pitt.edu
http://www.engr.pitt.edu/chemical/facstaff/balazs.html
Anna Balazs’ work has been focused on developing new computer
simulations for capturing the behavior of
multi-component, multi-phase systems, including polymer
nanocomposites. For example, she developed a computational model
for predicting the phase behavior of mixtures of nanoparticles
and diblock copolymers. In addition, she developed a
computational model for predicting the structural evolution of
nanoparticle-filled polymer blends. Building on these studies,
she developed a multi-scale approach where the results from the
morphological studies served as input to simulations for the
mechanical, electrical and optical properties of the material.
In this way, she could directly relate the nanoscale features of
the components, the mesoscale structure of the mixture and the
macroscopic behavior of the resultant composite.
|
Schematic of a particle-filled polymer
coating over a surface with nanoscale defect (notch)
(left). Results from simulations revealing that polymers
(not shown) drive a significant fraction of particles
(in red) into the notch and thereby, effecting repair of
the substrate (right). |
