About

Professor Paul V. Braun holds the titles of Grainger Distinguished Chair in Engineering, Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, Professor of Mechanical Sciences and Engineering, Professor of Chemistry, and Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering. He is also the Director of the Materials Research Laboratory at the University of Illinois. His research focuses on materials science and engineering, with an emphasis on developing advanced materials and understanding their properties for various applications. As a leading figure in his field, Professor Braun contributes significantly to the scientific community through his leadership and innovative research.

Research topics

• Materials science
• Nanotechnology
• Physics
• Chemistry
• Physical chemistry
• Optics
• Electrical engineering
• Optoelectronics
• Metallurgy
• Chemical engineering
• Crystallography
• Nuclear magnetic resonance
• Engineering

Selected publications

• Supporting data for "Thermal conductivity of polyurethane thin films"

  Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) · 2026-04-02

  articleOpen access

  Supporting data and codes for article "Thermal Conductivity of Polyurethane Thin Films", doi: 10.1021/acs.macromol.4c00401.

  PublisherDOI

• Scalable Surface Structuring of Stainless Steel Plate Heat Exchangers using Chloride-Based Chemical Etching for Enhanced Two-Phase Heat Transfer

  SSRN Electronic Journal · 2026-01-01

  preprintOpen accessSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Experimental Study of the Mechanical and Durability Properties of a Collapsible Soil Treated with Biopolymers

  2026-03-05

  articleSenior authorCorresponding

  Near-surface weak or collapsible soils pose significant challenges in construction and mobility. Conventional stabilization methods using cement and lime have a high carbon footprint, prompting the exploration of sustainable alternatives such as biopolymers. This study investigated the effects of xanthan gum (XG) and chitosan (CH) on the mechanical properties of a collapsible silty sand (SM). Unconfined compressive strengths (UCS) of SM-polymer mixtures were measured at varying remaining water contents (RWC) for two polymer concentrations (0.5% and 1% by the mass of dry soil). Additionally, durability under wetting-drying (W-D) cycles was assessed to address susceptibility to wetting-induced degradation, a critical concern for biopolymer-treated soils. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to observe microstructural changes. Results indicated that both XG and CH enhanced the UCS of SM-polymer mixtures with decreasing RWC. CH provided similar or greater strength gains than XG at RWC ≥ 4%, while XG outperformed CH at lower RWCs, achieving 72% higher strength at the lowest measured RWC. The enhanced strength of SM-CH mixtures at higher RWCs could result from electrostatic attraction between the positively charged CH and negatively charged silica soil particles. XG’s superior performance at lower RWCs showed its ability to aggregate fines by polymer filaments, overcoming the electrostatic repulsion between its negatively charged chains and the silty sand. Under unconfined W-D cycles, SM-XG and SM-CH mixtures lost 53% and 70%, respectively, of their initial strength after the first cycle due to polymer filament degradation during wetting and limited filament regeneration during drying. While SM-XG mixtures could not endure more than three unconfined W-D cycles, SM-CH mixtures resisted up to six cycles, maintaining a UCS of 180 kPa. These findings suggest that while XG offered higher strength at low RWC, CH demonstrated superior durability and resistance to W-D cycles, making it more suitable for short-term, near-surface applications with silty sand.

  PublisherDOI

• Electrochemically Tuned Crystal Tectonics in Crack-Resistant Textured Oxide Cathode Films for Electrochemical Energy Storage

  Journal of the American Chemical Society · 2026-01-12

  articleSenior authorCorresponding

  Electro-chemo-mechanical degradation pathways that significantly impact performance of ceramic battery electrodes are a strong function of bulk crystallographic texture, crystal size, and interfacial misorientation angle. Via electrodeposition, deterministic synthesis of textured thick (>10 μm) films of LiCoO2 having controlled size dispersity and interfaces is demonstrated, enabling study and control of these degradation pathways. The crystal morphogenesis stems from the growth parameters (current density and temperature), resulting in a bouquet of textures and microstructures. Columnar grained ⟨110⟩||ND textured films with a finer crystallite size (f4–8 μm = 0.617) can be synthesized in kinetic regimes of growth (T = 275 °C, supersaturation >0.367), whereas ⟨003⟩||ND films with coarser crystals (f8–15 μm = 0.597) originate in thermodynamic regimes of growth (T = 350 °C, supersaturation independent). Interestingly, Σ3 coincident site lattice (CSL)/twin boundaries are controllably incorporated in the ⟨110⟩||ND films (f = 0.337), whereas ⟨003⟩||ND films only possesses high-angle crystal interfaces (HACIs, f = 1.0). The morpho-structural evolution of the crystal assembly under electro-chemo-mechanical stimuli is rooted in crystal tectonics and corelated anisotropic ionic diffusion differences. Stochastic analysis of microstructures of electrochemically cycled films via electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) and Raman spectroscopy indicates interface-, size-, and texture-dependent degradation modes. On electrochemical cycling, the ⟨003⟩||ND electrode degrades by both intercrystal and intracrystal cracking (13.3% retention), whereas the ⟨110⟩||ND electrode is only susceptible to intercrystal cleavage (89.2% retention). The cracks initiate at local lithiation heterogeneities near coarser crystals and always propagate along HACIs, with all the CSL boundaries remaining mechanically robust. Our discoveries highlight how careful orchestration of orientation and interfaces leads to unique chemomechanical stabilization strategies.

  PublisherDOI

• Concentration dependent salt-polymer-dynamic bond interactions dictate non-monotonic conductivity and viscoelasticity in vitrimer electrolytes

  Journal of Materials Chemistry A · 2026-01-01

  articleOpen access

  Tuning salt in vitrimer electrolytes yields non-monotonic trends with three distinct regimes in modulus, relaxation times and ionic conductivity. An optimal salt concentration maximizes both conductivity and bond exchange while preserving modulus.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Comparative evaluation of dielectric liquids for single-phase immersion cooling of electronics

  International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer · 2026-04-13

  article
  PublisherDOI

• Supporting data for "Reduction of the thermal conductivity of polyurethanes by fluorination: impact of crystallinity, atomic density, and sound velocity"

  Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) · 2026-04-02

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Supporting data and codes for "Reduction of the Thermal Conductivity of Polyurethanes by Fluorination: Impact of Crystallinity, Atomic Density, and Sound Velocity", doi: 10.1002/ange.202503497

  PublisherDOI

• Supporting data for "Reduction of the thermal conductivity of polyurethanes by fluorination: impact of crystallinity, atomic density, and sound velocity"

  Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) · 2026-04-02

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Supporting data and codes for "Reduction of the Thermal Conductivity of Polyurethanes by Fluorination: Impact of Crystallinity, Atomic Density, and Sound Velocity", doi: 10.1002/ange.202503497

  PublisherDOI

• Supporting data for "Thermal conductivity of polyurethane thin films"

  Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) · 2026-04-02

  articleOpen access

  Supporting data and codes for article "Thermal Conductivity of Polyurethane Thin Films", doi: 10.1021/acs.macromol.4c00401.

  PublisherDOI

• Enhanced surfaces manufactured using pulsed laser texturing for highly efficient two-phase cooling

  Repository of the University of Ljubljana (University of Ljubljana) · 2026-01-06

  article
  Publisher

Recent grants

• Controlled Synthesis of Polypeptides from Non-Purified N-Carboxyanhydrides

  NSF · $236k · 2020–2022

• FMRG: Holistic Design of Low-Cost and Recyclable High Energy Density Li-ion Batteries

  NSF · $3.3M · 2021–2026

Frequent coauthors

• Mark L. Brongersma

  Stanford University

  126 shared

• Timothy J. Bunning

  United States Air Force Research Laboratory

  123 shared

• Guido Fuchs

  University of Kassel

  121 shared

• Adrian Miller

  Cornell University

  121 shared

• Cornelia Denz

  Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt

  121 shared

• Anja Eberhardt

  121 shared

• Zhiyuan Li

  121 shared

• Melanie Baumann

  RWTH Aachen University

  121 shared

Labs

• Braun Research GroupPI

Education

• Ph.D., Chemical Engineering

  University of California, Berkeley

  1990

• M.S., Chemical Engineering

  University of California, Berkeley

  1986

• B.S., Chemical Engineering

  University of California, Berkeley

  1984

Awards & honors

• Grainger Distinguished Chair in Engineering