Dr. Luyi Sun is a Castleman Professor in Engineering Innovation in the Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering and Polymer Program, Institute of Materials Science at the University of Connecticut. His current research focuses on the design and synthesis of nano-structured multifunctional materials for various applications. Dr. Sun has published more than one hundred (100) peer-reviewed journal articles and is the inventor/co-inventor of thirty nine (39) International and US patents/patent applications. The scientific results by Dr. Sun have been reported by major media including Chemical & Engineering News of the American Chemical Society, Plastics Engineering magazine of the Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE), Materials360 Online of the Materials Research Society (MRS), Yahoo, MSN, etc. Dr. Sun was selected to be a Fellow of the Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE) in 2016.

Current Research

    (1) Multi-functional nanostructured materials for structural, functional, environmental, and energy related applications

    (2) Polymeric materials and new polymer processing development

    (3) Layered compounds

    (4) Green science and engineering

    (5) Hydrates and porous materials for energy storage and CO2 capture

Research Statement

    Our research covers a wide range of materials, including polymeric materials, ceramics and glasses, and composites. One of our main goals is to design materials with unique structure (down to nano- and molecular-scale) for specific applications, such as packaging, energy, catalysis, etc. In most cases, the structural design and control are the keys to the high performance of these materials.Overall, we are engaged in four areas of materials research:

Multi-functional Nanostructured Materials

 (1)Synthesis of nanomaterials (nano-particles, tubes, platelets, porous materials, etc.)

 (2)Polymer nanocomposites

Bio-nanocomposites

 (1)Layer-by-Layer self-assembly

 (2)Thin films and fibers

Solid State Chemistry

 (1)Layered compounds and intercalation/exfoliation chemistry

 (2)Porous materials and pillared layered compounds

 (3)Functional ceramics and glasses

 (4)Polymeric Materials and Polymer Processing

Fluoropolymers

 (1)Polyolefins and thermoplastic polyolefins (TPOs)

Bio-polymers

 (1)Polymer composites/nanocomposites and blends

 (2)Polymer processing (injection molding, extrusion, blow molding, thermoforming, biaxial stretching, new processing technique development, etc.)

Green Science

 (1)Synthesize/isolate/derive valuable materials from biomass

 (2)Polylactic acid and other bio-based polymeric materials

 (3)Ionic liquids and their applications