Research in the Elling Lab

New Tools to Make and Remake Polymers

Research in the Elling Lab centers on developing new polymerization methods with an emphasis on sustainability.

New Strained Monomers

Many powerful methods, such as ring-opening metathesis polymerization, leverage strained molecules to produce high molecular polymers. In our group, we’re designing new strained molecules to give access to new polymers with new properties.

What’s more, we’re looking to engineer strained molecules that may be easily modified post-polymerization to give access to a greater range of functionalized materials and be controllably depolymerized.

Covalent Adaptable Networks

About 20% of commercial polymers are what are known as thermosets, meaning they cannot be reprocessed via conventional mechanical recycling. Our group is investigating new dynamic chemistries by fusing theory and synthetic chemistry that can be incorporated into crosslinked networks.

Polymerizations with Carbon Dioxide

While carbon dioxide is an exciting C1 feedstock for materials, its thermodynamic and kinetic stability make it a tricky building block to harness. Our group is developing new methods for incorporating carbon dioxide (as well as other sustainably derived monomers) into polyesters.