Research
The next generation of polymeric materials will need features typically associated with biological systems, such as programmable, self-healing, and self-regenerating properties. Our group, the Huli Materials Lab, leverages bacteria and filamentous fungi to fabricate engineered living materials. Additionally, we develop structural-property relationships around the mechanics about difficult to characterize materials including (1) ultrathin polymer films, (2) biofilms, and (3) biohybrid materials.Ìý
The Huli Materials Lab develops characterization and processing methods to quantify and program the properties of living and synthetic polymeric materials to enable functionalities desired for applications in biotechnology, sensing, and protection. Research areas in the Huli Materials Lab include: (1) mechanics of ultrathin polymer films (<100 nm thick), (2) mechanics of living systems, Ìýand (3) spatially programming the mechanical properties of living polymeric composites.
Mechanics of Ultrathin Polymer Films
In our lab, we have a custom-built tensile tester, TUTTUT/TUFF, that can directly measure the full uniaxial stress-strain response of polymer films between 100 µm and 10 nm thickness. We are currently using this TUTTUT/TUFF to understand how decreasing polymer film thickness and liquid environment impacts their elastic and failure properties.Ìý
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Mechanics of Living Materials
We develop characterization methods to investigate theÌýstructure-property relationships of biofilms and filamentous fungi.
Guiding questions
• How do the mechanical properties of biofilms relate to the composition?
• How do the mechanical properties change in response to environment?
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Fabrication of Biohybrid Materials
We develop and use tools to program the properties of bio-hybrid materials to enable functionalities desired for many applications.Ìý
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