Polymer Research Laboratory

Description of the Group

Our team specializes in soft matter research with a special focus on block copolymers and their use as a matrices for the synthesis of functional nanomaterials. We are fabricating and studying nano-structured surface coatings used, among others, as ultra-thin conductive layers, elements of photovoltaic cells, chemical sensors or electro-catalysts.As a part of our projects, we are developing directed self- assembly (DSA) methods for long-range spatial ordering of block copolymer domains using the directional action of external fields (electric, magnetic, thermal). These experi-ments are in part conducted in-situ utilizing X-ray scattering in collaboration with researchers from the American synchrotron centre at Brookhaven National Laboratory. These studies, in addition to having a direct impact on our understanding of complex polymer physics, will provide a uni-versal experimental platform for rapid screening of other materials. Another direction of our research is the extension of the library of struc-tural motifs available through the self-assembly of BCPs. We are searching for them in non-equi-librium structures produced, among others, in multi-layer system. The long-term aim of this research is to synthesize innovative functional materials based on obtained copolymer matrices for practical applications, e.g., chemical sensors in air pollution monitoring devices.

Research Activities

• Surface characteristics of soft materials by X-ray diffraction and electron microscopy
• Small-Angle X-ray Scattering, SAXS, Grazing Incidence SAXS GISAXS, X-ray Reflectometry, synchrotron techniques
• Engineering of thin organic and inorganic coatings
• Expertise in polymer and surface science, self-assembled monolayers, surface coatings, polymeric electrolytes, membranes and charge transport in soft materials

Team Leader

Paweł W. Majewski completed his PhD studies at Yale University in the United States in 2013, and then worked as a researcher at the Brookhaven National Laboratory (Center for Functional Nano- materials). He returned to Poland after receiving a return Maria Skłodowska-Curie Polonez fellowship granted by the National Science Centre.He currently works at the University of Warsaw Biological and Chemical Research Centre, where, as part of the First Team grant received from the Foun-dation for Polish Science, he leads a team investi-gating polymeric materials. Research:• Since 2018 – PI of the First Team research project, University of Warsaw, Poland• 2016-2018 – the Polonez return fellowship, Department of Chemistry, University of Warsaw, Poland• 2013-2016 – research associate, Brookhaven National Laboratory, USA• 2005 – Research Internship, University of California at Santa Barbara, USA