Faculty Profile

Pinar Akcora

ASSISTANT PROFESSOR
Building: McLean 415
Phone: 201.216.5060
Fax: 201.216.8306
Email: pinar.akcora@stevens.edu
School:  Schaefer School of Engineering & Science
Department:  Chemical Engineering & Materials Science
Program:  Chemical Engineering
Education
  • Post-doc, Chemical Engineering, Columbia University (2005-2008). 
  • Ph.D., Chemical Engineering, University of Maryland, College Park (2000-2005)
  • M.S., Chemical Engineering, Bogazici University, Istanbul 1997 
  • B.S., Chemical Engineering, Istanbul Technical University, 1995
Research
Synthesis and characterization of polymeric nanohybrids; ordered soft materials; mechanical and structural relationships of ordered-disordered systems; developing new strategies for the self-assembly of nanoparticles; self-healing membranes for robust mechanical applications; multifunctional polymer composites with electrical and mechanical properties, bioengineered magnetic nanoparticles for drug delivery applications. 
General Information

Assistant Prof. at the U Missouri-Columbia, Chemical Engineering (Nov 2008- Aug 2010)

Honors & Awards
  • NSF CAREER Award, DMR-Polymer (2010 recipient).
  • Research Board Award, University of Missouri (2009).
Professional Societies
  • American Physical Society
  • American Chemical Society
  • Materials Research Society 
  • New York Academy of Sciences 
  • AIChE
Selected Publications
Journals
  1. Y. Jiao, P. Akcora. (2012). "Assembly of polymer-grafted magnetic nanoparticles in polymer melts", Macromolecules. 45 (8), 3463.
  2. Z. Zhu, E. Senses, P. Akcora, S. Sukhishvili. (2012). "Programmable light-controlled shape changes in layered polymer nanocomposites", ACS Nano. 6, 3152.
  3. K. Keller, P. Akcora. (2012). "Elastic properties of a protein/polymer grafted surface", Langmuir. 28, 3807.
  4. Y. Jiao, J. M. Stark, P. Akcora, D. Gyawali, P. Nair, R. T. Tran, J. Yang. (2012). "A rheological study of biodegradable injectable PEGMC/HA composite scaffolds", Soft Matter. 8, 1499.
  5. J. F. Moll, P. Akcora, A. Rungta, S. Gong, R. H. Colby, B. C. Benicewicz, S. K. Kumar. (2011). "Mechanical reinforcement in polymer melts filled with polymer grafted nanoparticles", Macromolecules. 44 (18), 7473.
  6. P. Akcora, S. K. Kumar, L. S. Schadler, V. G. Sakai, Y. Li, B. C. Benicewicz. (2010). "Segmental dynamics in PMMA-grafted nanoparticle composites", Macromolecules. 43 (19), 8275.
  7. P. Akcora, H. Liu, S. K. Kumar, Y. Li, B. C. Benicewicz, Linda S. Schadler, D. Acehan, A. Panagiotopoulos, V. Pryamitsyn, V. Ganesan, J. Ilavsky, P. Thiyagarajan, R. H. Colby, J. F. Douglas. (2009). "Anisotropic self-assembly of polymer-grafted nanoparticles", Nature Materials (appeared on cover page). 8 (4), 354.
  8. P. Akcora, S. K. Kumar, S. Lewis, L. S. Schadler, Y. Li, B. C. Benicewicz, S. Narayanan, P. Thiyagarajan, J. Ilavsky, R. H. Colby, J. F. Douglas. (2010). "Gel-like mechanical reinforcement in polymer nanocomposites", Macromolecules. 43 (2), 1003.
  9. J. Khan, S. Harton, P. Akcora, B. Benicewicz, S. K. Kumar. (2009). "Polymer Crystallization in Nanocomposites: Spatial Reorganization of Nanoparticles", Macromolecules. 42 (15), 5741.
  10. P. Akcora, R. M. Briber, P. Kofinas. (2009). "Oxidation effect on templating of metal oxide nanoparticles within block copolymers", Polymer. 50 (5), 1223.
  11. P. Akcora, R. M Briber, P. Kofinas. (2006). "TEM characterization of diblock copolymer templated iron oxide nanoparticles: Bulk solution and thin film surface doping approach", Polymer. 47 (6), 2018.
  12. P. Akcora, X. Zhang, B. Varughese, R. M. Briber, P. Kofinas. (2005). "Characterization of polymer templated iron oxide nanoparticles within diblock copolymers by magnetic and neutron scattering experiments", Polymer. 46 (14), 5194.
Courses
  • CHE 332 Separation Operations
  • CHE 560 Fundamentals of Polymer Science