Engineering Organic Glasses

Project Personnel

Lian Yu

Principal Investigator

University of Wisconsin, Madison

Email

Juan DePablo

University of Wisconsin, Madison

Email

Mark Ediger

University of Wisconsin, Madison

Email

Funding Divisions

Division of Materials Research (DMR)

Glasses are amorphous materials that combine solid-like mechanical stability and liquid-like spatial uniformity, making them ideal for many applications ranging from telecommunication to bio-preservation. This research seeks to advance the science and technology of organic glasses, and the results will provide a foundation for designing organic glasses with desired properties through concerted use of simulations and targeted experiments. This research will benefit materials scientists and engineers in other fields where glasses and amorphous materials are important, and contribute to a broader perspective on the science of glasses in general. The improved ability to stabilize amorphous materials against crystallization will especially benefit pharmaceutical scientists as they develop amorphous formulations to deliver highly potent but poorly soluble drugs. Poor solubility is limiting the development of many drugs that would significantly advance health care in the U.S. and developing countries. In addition to journal publications, results from this work will be disseminated via a central website, a mechanism especially important for archiving and sharing the extensive data from high-throughput investigations.

Designing Materials to Revolutionize and Engineer our Future (DMREF)