Engineering Soft Materials for Sustainable Solutions

Overview

The Soft Matter Lab at Rowan University’s Henry M. Rowan College of Engineering develops advanced polymeric materials to tackle pressing challenges in sustainable water and energy systems. We integrate polymer chemistry, environmental engineering, and materials science to create functional gels and membranes that can sense, adapt, and perform under dynamic conditions.

Our research currently centers on four synergistic areas:  Solar absorber gels for solar-driven water purification and environmental remediation  Ion-selective polymer membranes for efficient recovery of critical minerals from brines and wastewater  Eutectogels for next-generation supercapacitors and batteries  Stimulus-responsive hydrogel actuators for soft robotic systems

By uncovering and exploiting the structure–property–function relationships of soft materials, our group aims to build fundamental-to-application pathways that translate polymer design into scalable, sustainable technologies for a cleaner, healthier, and more resilient future.

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Our Research Focus

Water

We engineer stimuli-responsive hydrogels for clean water production, advancing sustainable, non-evaporative purification strategies to mitigate global water scarcity and improve water reuse efficiency.

Energy

We design polymer electrolytes for flexible batteries and supercapacitors to enhance renewable energy storage and stability. We study how functional groups and network architectures influence the mechanical strength, ion transport, and electrochemical performance of these materials.

Minerals

We develop selective membranes and soft-matter interfaces for mineral resource recovery, targeting critical materials such as lithium and cobalt that are vital to clean-energy technologies.