Tomasz Kowalewski

About

Professor Tomasz Kowalewski leads a research group at Carnegie Mellon University that focuses on polymer-based functional materials and devices. His lab conducts highly interdisciplinary research centered on the design and synthesis of functional polymeric building blocks. A key aspect of their work involves methods to rearrange these building blocks over large areas through a technique called zone casting, enabling the fabrication of nano-devices. The research program encompasses several active areas including the nanoscale organization in thin films of regioregular poly(3-hexylthiophene) block copolymers and their applications in chemical sensors, the development and processing of long-range ordered block copolymer structures for nano-lithography, and the creation of a new class of nanostructured sp2 carbon systems for electronic materials. Additionally, the lab works on atomic force microscopy development and the study of high dielectric polymer materials for organic field effect transistors (OFETs). Professor Kowalewski's group is based in Room 527 of the Mellon Institute at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, PA.

Research topics

• Chemistry
• Organic chemistry
• Polymer chemistry
• Composite material
• Chemical engineering
• Polymer science
• Materials science
• Combinatorial chemistry
• Photochemistry

Selected publications

• High-throughput Synthesis and Screening of Iridium(III) Photocatalysts for the Fast and Chemoselective Dehalogenation of Aryl Bromides

  ACS Catalysis · 2020 · 59 citations

  A high-throughput optical screening method for the photocatalytic activity of a structurally diverse library of 1152 cationic iridium(III) complexes ([Ir(C^N)2(N^N)]+), corresponding to all combinations of 48 cyclometalating (C^N) and 24 ancillary (N^N) ligands, was developed. This rapid assay utilizes the colorimetric changes of a high contrast indicator dye, coumarin 6, to monitor the photo-induced electron transfer from a sacrificial amine donor to the metal complex excited state. The resulti…

  DOI

• STEM Gels by Controlled Radical Polymerization

  Trends in Chemistry · 2020 · 52 citations

  DOI

• Multiblock Copolymer Anion-Exchange Membranes Derived from Vinyl Addition Polynorbornenes

  ACS Applied Energy Materials · 2021-09-03 · 35 citations

  articleOpen access

  Block copolymers have shown promise in ion-exchange membranes as they can phase separate into well-defined nanostructures which promote transport. Herein, a systematic study of multiblock copolymers containing cationic blocks is presented (diblock up to pentablock), and these were contrasted against a statistical copolymer. A series of vinyl addition polynorbornene anion-exchange membranes were prepared by copolymerization of 5-n-hexyl-2-norbornene and 5-(4-bromobutyl)-2-norbornene, followed by…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Cu-Catalyzed Atom Transfer Radical Polymerization in the Presence of Liquid Metal Micro/Nanodroplets

  Macromolecules · 2021 · 33 citations

  Micro/nanodroplets of the liquid metal (LM) eutectic Ga–In alloy (EGaIn) were employed in atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) in organic solvents with low ppm (parts per million) loading of Cu catalysts. ATRP in the presence of EGaIn produced well-defined polymers (dispersity <1.1) that could be easily separated from EGaIn via centrifugation. Voltammetric analysis revealed that EGaIn micro/nanodroplets reduced CuII complexes to CuI complexes, which acted as ATRP activators. A key distinc…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Cu‐Catalyzed Atom Transfer Radical Polymerization: The Effect of Cocatalysts

  Macromolecular Chemistry and Physics · 2022-11-09 · 32 citations

  articleOpen access

  Abstract Atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) is one of the most powerful methods to prepare well‐defined (co)polymers. Cu‐catalyzed ATRP methods are most commonly used because of the excellent control and tunable catalytic activities via ligand functionalization. This minireview summarizes the development of Cu‐catalyzed ATRP in the presence of cocatalysts, which are used to regenerate Cu I complex activators during polymerizations. Fundamentals of Cu‐based ATRP catalysts are first intro…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Recent grants

• NIRT: Nanostructured Carbons from Self-Assembled Block Copolymer Precursors: From Synthesis and Characterization to Devices

  NSF · $1.4M · 2003–2009

Frequent coauthors

• Krzysztof Matyjaszewski

  Carnegie Mellon University

  169 shared

• Chuanbing Tang

  University of South Carolina

  45 shared

• Michał Kruk

  City University of New York

  43 shared

• Richard D. McCullough

  US Forest Service

  38 shared

• Jeffrey Pyun

  University of Arizona

  36 shared

• Detlef‐M. Smilgies

  Cornell University

  29 shared

• Anna C. Balazs

  University of Pittsburgh

  28 shared

• Wei Wu

  Donghua University

  28 shared

Education

• Ph.D.

  Polish Academy of Sciences

  1988

Similar researchers at Carnegie Mellon University

• Rongchao Jinh-128
• Terrence J. Collinsh-69
• Stefan Bernhardh-65