Ralph Colby

Affiliate Researcher
Titles and Affiliations
Professor, Materials Science and Engineering

Research Summary

Research interests include proteins, polyelectrolytes, ionomers, liquid crystalline polymers, block copolymers, miscible polymer blends, branched polymers, networks, glass-forming liquids, and surfactants and colloidal suspensions. Ion-containing polymers are a poorly understood class of materials that are potentially very important for actuators, sensors, separators between the electrodes of advanced batteries and fuel cell membranes.

In the News

Research Keywords

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Projects

Recent Publications

Binding-Induced Bond Polarization in Polymer Solutions to Drive Micelle and Vesicle Formation

Goel, S., Huang, Z., Riggleman, R. A., Colby, R. H. & Hickey, R. J., Jan 14 2025, In: Macromolecules. 58, 1, p. 169-177 9 p.

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Isothermal crystallization of Poly(ether ether ketone)/carbon fiber composites

Zhang, X., Flanigan, R., de Kort, G., Colby, R. H. & Rhoades, A. M., Jun 1 2025, In: Composites Part B: Engineering. 298, 112386.

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Rheological Properties of Concentrated Sodium Polystyrenesulfonate in Aqueous Salt Solutions

Gulati, A., Han, A., Colby, R. H. & Lopez, C. G., Aug 13 2024, In: Macromolecules. 57, 15, p. 7253-7262 10 p.

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Thermally Induced Gelling Systems Based on Patchy Polymeric Micelles

Han, B., Fujii, S., van der Vlies, A. J., Ghasemi, M., Del Mundo, J. T., Kiemle, S. N., Gomez, E. W., Gomez, E. D., Colby, R. H. & Hasegawa, U., 2024, (Accepted/In press) In: Advanced Functional Materials.

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Enhanced Anhydrous Proton Conductivity in Azole Phosphonic Acid Mixtures

Huang, Z., Lehmann, M. L., Bhattacharya, A., Liu, Y., Cooper, V. R., Clément, R. J., Saito, T., Hickner, M. A. & Colby, R. H., Dec 9 2024, In: ACS Applied Energy Materials. 7, 23, p. 10826-10833 8 p.

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Particle Concentration Promotes Flow-Induced Crystallization of High-Molecular-Weight Isotactic Polypropylene

Jacob, B. J., Zhang, X., Kim, J., Alexander, J. D., Cangussú, M. E., Rhoades, A. M. & Colby, R. H., May 14 2024, In: Macromolecules. 57, 9, p. 4396-4409 14 p.

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Cold sintering with functionalized polymers for ductile ceramic matrix composites with controllable mechanical performance

Lai, P. H., Jacob, B. J., Colby, R. H., Gomez, E. D. & Vogt, B. D., Dec 2024, In: Materialia. 38, 102238.

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Enhancing the dielectric constant of zwitterionic liquids via dipole moment and anion chemistry

Mei, W., Colby, R. H. & Hickey, R. J., Jul 7 2024, In: Journal of Chemical Physics. 161, 1, 014506.

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Water-Driven Sol-Gel Transition in Native Cellulose/1-Ethyl-3-methylimidazolium Acetate Solutions

Mohamed Yunus, R. A., Koch, M., Dieudonné-George, P., Truzzolillo, D., Colby, R. H. & Parisi, D., 2024, (Accepted/In press) In: ACS Macro Letters. p. 219-226 8 p.

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Convenient Protocol for Preparing Hydrogels with Temperature-Insensitive Swellability

Tang, J., Hu, H., Colby, R. H. & Chen, Q., 2024, (Accepted/In press) In: Macromolecules.

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Role of Glass Fiber in the Flow-Induced Crystallization of Poly(ether ether ketone)

Zhang, X., Alexander, J. D., Seo, J., Jacob, B. J., Kort, G. D., Schaake, R. P., Weigand, S. J., Rhoades, A. M. & Colby, R. H., 2024, (Accepted/In press) In: Macromolecules.

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

High-Modulus Single-Ion-Conducting Electrolytes Based on a Rigid-Rod Polyanion

Bostwick, J. E., Yu, D., Zanelotti, C. J., Dingemans, T. J., Madsen, L. A. & Colby, R. H., Jul 10 2023, In: ACS Applied Energy Materials. 6, 13, p. 6910-6916 7 p.

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Ionic Conduction and Dielectric Response of Nanoparticle-Coupled Hydrogel Network Polymer Electrolytes

Choi, U. H., Handayani, P. L., Song, Y. H., Kim, T., Han, A. & Colby, R. H., May 9 2023, In: Macromolecules. 56, 9, p. 3393-3405 13 p.

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Fiber spinning from polymer solutions

Colby, R. H., Nov 1 2023, In: Journal of Rheology. 67, 6, p. 1251-1255 5 p.

Research output: Contribution to journalShort surveypeer-review

Specific viscosity of polymer solutions with large thermal blobs

Colby, R. H. & Han, A., Nov 2023, In: Rheologica Acta. 62, 11-12, p. 687-693 7 p.

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review