Graduate Research
Polymer Physics
Sravya Jangareddy
Senior Materials Scientist, Abbott
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At Abbott, we are well aware that there is a patient at the end of every decision we make. As a materials scientist here, my work included projects that provided technical support for the company's COVID-19 reagent kits and assisted in improving the performance of Abbott's trademark immunoassay reagent bottles, among others.
I did my undergraduate studies at Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay with a major in chemical engineering and a minor in humanities. I recently received my PhD in Chemical and Biological Engineering from Princeton University, advised by Prof. Richard Register. Find more about my PhD research below.
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Find my latest CV and more about my skills by clicking on the LinkedIn button.
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Block Copolymer Mixing Thermodynamics
It is essential to find cheap materials that can be mixed easily with natural rubber (NR) to improve its robustness, while retaining elasticity. To achieve this, I designed and synthesized diblock copolymers with a polyisoprene (a synthetic equivalent to NR) block and a saturated butadiene-styrene random copolymer (hSBR) block . While saturated butadiene (hPB) is the primary polymer to be mixed to improve robustness, randomly situated styrene (S) units in the hPB chain improve the mixing compatibility.
I comprehensively studied the efficacy of S, incorporated at various levels into hPB, in enhancing miscibility, using molecular and thermal characterization tools.
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Published in ACS Macromolecules (Link)
Blend Mixing
Thermodynamics
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Polydienes (polymers of conjugated dienes) and polyolefins (polymers of olefins, or saturated polydienes) encompass the bulk of commercial elastomers like sealants, adhesives, impact modifiers etc. Since these polymers are from different chemical families, they are expected to be incompatible and therefore, their mixing behavior is not well understood.
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With technical support from ExxonMobil Research and Engineering, we investigated the mixing thermodynamics of model polydiene-polyolefin blends through cloud point measurements. We explored short chain effects and foreign monomer incorporation in polyolefins to improve their compatibility with polydienes.
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Published in ACS Macromolecules (Link)
Publications
Macromolecules, October 2020
Macromolecules, April 2021