Cohen Research Group

Since its inception in 1973, the Cohen research group in the MIT Department of Chemical Engineering has focused on relationships that connect macromolecular architecture, supramolecular morphology and macroscopic physical properties of polymeric materials. Since about 2000 the behavior of polymers in ultra-thin films and at surfaces/interfaces has dominated the group’s activities. Current projects in the group benefit from two strong collaborations, one with Professor Gareth McKinley of Mechanical Engineering Department http://web.mit.edu/nnf/ and the other with Professor Michael Rubner of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering http://web.mit.edu/dmse/rubner/.

The impact and productivity of the research effort is positively reflected in the nearly 19000 citations that have been made to the roughly 350 peer-reviewed publications (see Publications page) produced by the group, with a Web of Science h-index of 74. The team has also produced more than 35 patents, some of which led to the co-founding of MatTek Corporation http://www.mattek.com in 1985.

Currently three major thrusts dominate the activities of the laboratory.

Thrust 1: Functionalizing Living Immune Cells with Ultrathin Multilayer Backpacks

Thrust 2: Fabrication of Optically Transparent Films Containing Halloysite Hollow Nanotubes

Thrust 3: Functionalized Surfaces

In addition to the three major research thrusts, there are three smaller subprojects currently underway in the group.

Sub project 1: Design of Surfaces that Exhibit Low Values of Ice Adhesion Strength

Sub project 2: Spontaneous Wettability Patterning via Creasing Instability

Sub project 3: Relaxation Phenomena in Stepped Thin Films of Glassy Polymers Containing Hydrogen Bonding Interactions