Charles Wilke Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering
email: segalman@berkeley.edu
office: 201D Gilman
phone: 510.642.7998
lab: B71-81, D85 Tan, and D96 Hildebrand
lab phone: 510.643.2271, 642.9926, 643.4982, 643.3544
Research Interests
Self-assembly of functional polymer systems
Structure control over soft matter on a molecular through nanoscopic lengthscale is a vital tool to optimizing properties for applications ranging from energy (solar and thermal) to biomaterials. For example, while molecular structure affects the electronic properties of semiconducting polymers, the crystal and grain structure greatly affect bulk conductivity, and nanometer lengthscale pattern of internal interfaces is vital to charge separation and recombination in photovoltaic and light emission effects. Similarly, biological materials gain functionality from structures ranging from monomeric sequence through chain shape through self-assembly. We work to both understand the effects of structure on properties and gain pattern control in these inherently multidimensional problems. We are particularly interested in materials for energy applications such as photovoltaics, fuel cells, and thermoelectrics.
Biography
B.S. University of Texas at Austin, (1998); Ph.D. University of California, Santa Barbara (2002); Presidential Early Career Award in Science and Engineering (PECASE, 2008), MDV Innovators Award (2007), Technology Review|s Top 35 Innovators under 35 years old (TR35-2007), 3M Untenured Faculty Award (2006-2008), Hellman Family Young Faculty Award (2007); National Science Foundation CAREER Award (2005); Intel Young Faculty Award (2004); Chateaubriand Fellowship (2003); Corning Foundation Fellowship (2001); MRS Graduate Student Award Finalist (2001); National Science Foundation Fellowship (1998).