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School of Engineering

People Anna Christina Balazs

Distinguished Professor of Chemical Engineering and Robert Von der Luft Professor


412-648-9250
Fax: 412-624-9639
Office: 1233 Benedum Hall

Education

PhD Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1981

Professional Interests

Dr. Balazs joined the department in 1997, coming from the Materials Science and Engineering department at the University of Pittsburgh. Prior to that, she held a postdoctoral position in the Department of Polymer Science and Engineering at the University of Massachusetts.

Dr. Balazs' research involves theoretical and computational modeling of the thermodynamic and kinetic behavior of polymer blends and composites. She is also investigating the properties of polymers at surfaces and interfaces.

Recent work has focused on:

  • Predicting the phase behavior of polymer/clay nanocomposites
  • Determining the kinetic behavior of binary mixtures containing solid particles
  • Designing polymeric inhibitors to prevent cell-virus contact
  • Tailoring the interactions between polymer-coated colloids
  • Promoting adhesion at polymeric interfaces
  • Designing patterned polymer films
  • Investigating the tribological behavior of polymer interfaces

For additional information on Professor Balazs' research programs, please visit the research group's home page at http://grace.che.pitt.edu

Selected Publications

Yashin, V. and Balazs, A.C., “Pattern Formation and Shape Changes in Self-Oscillating Polymer Gels”, Science, 314 (2006) 798.

Yashin, V. and Balazs, A.C., “Modeling self-oscillations and traveling waves in reacting polymer gels”, Macromolecules, 39 (2006) 2024-2027.

Yashin, V. and Balazs, A. C. “Modeling the Chemo-mechanical Behavior of Reactive Polymer Gels”, in Electroresponsive Polymers and Their Applications, V. Bharti, Y. Bar-Cohen, Z.-Y. Cheng, Q. Zhang, J. Madden, Eds., Materials Research Society, Pittsburgh, 889, 2006, W06-11-V07-11.

Alexeev, A. Verberg, R. and Balazs, A. C. “Designing Compliant Substrates to Regulate the Motion of Vesicles”, Phys. Rev. Letts., 96 (2006) 148103.       

 

Gupta, S., Zhang, Q., Emrick, T., Balazs, A. C., and Russell, T.P., “Entropy-driven segregation of nanoparticles to cracks in multilayered composite polymer structures”, Nature Materials, 5

(2006) 229.

Lin, Y., Böker, A., Sill, K., Xiang, H., Abetz, C., Li, X., Wang, J. Emrick, T., Balazs, A. C. Russell, T.P., “Self-directed Self-assembly of Nanoparticles/Copolymer Mixtures”, Nature 434 (2005) 55.

Buxton, G.A., Verberg, R., Jasnow, D. and Balazs, A. C., “A Newtonian Fluid Meets an Elastic Solid: Coupling Lattice Boltzmann and Lattice Spring Models”, Phys. Rev. E., 71 (2005) 056707.

Buxton, G. and Balazs, A. C., “Micromechanical Simulation of the Deformation and Fracture of Polymer Blends”, Macromolecules, 38 (2005) 488.

Lee, J. Y., Shou, Z. and Balazs, A. C., "Modeling the Self-Assembly of Copolymer/Nanoparticle Mixtures Confined Between Solid Surfaces”, Phys. Rev. Letts.,91 (2003) 136103.

Thompson, R., Ginzburg, V., Matsen, M., and Balazs, A. C., "Predicting Mesophases of Copolymer/Nanoparticle Composites", Science 292 (2001) 2469.

Benedum Hall

Dedicated in 1971, Benedum Hall is home to exploration and discovery.

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