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

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

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

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

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

Viscosity of Polymer Solutions and Molecular Weight Characterization

Dobrynin, A. V., Sayko, R. & Colby, R. H., Jun 20 2023, In: ACS Macro Letters. 12, 6, p. 773-779 7 p.

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Preparation and Characterization of Polyethylene Copolymers with PAH Side Groups as Carbon Fiber Precursors

Li, H., Sengeh, J., Agboola, O. D., Seo, J., Colby, R. & Mike Chung, T. C., Jan 13 2023, In: ACS Applied Polymer Materials. 5, 1, p. 791-802 12 p.

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Ion States Impact Charge Transport and Dielectric Constant for Poly(ethylene oxide)-Based Sulfonylimide Lithium Ionomers

Mei, W., Yu, D., Madsen, L. A., Hickey, R. J. & Colby, R. H., Jul 11 2023, In: Macromolecules. 56, 13, p. 5141-5151 11 p.

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Revisiting the Elasticity of Tetra-Poly(ethylene glycol) Hydrogels

Tang, J., Colby, R. H. & Chen, Q., Apr 25 2023, In: Macromolecules. 56, 8, p. 2939-2946 8 p.

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Uncorrelated Lithium-Ion Hopping in a Dynamic Solvent-Anion Network

Yu, D., Troya, D., Korovich, A. G., Bostwick, J. E., Colby, R. H. & Madsen, L. A., Apr 14 2023, In: ACS Energy Letters. 8, 4, p. 1944-1951 8 p.

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Crystallization kinetics of glass fiber filled poly(ether ether ketone) with nanogram sample size: Feasibility study for fast scanning calorimetry

Zhang, X., Alexander, J. D., Seo, J., Gohn, A. M., Behary, M. J., Schaake, R. P., Colby, R. H. & Rhoades, A. M., Mar 2023, In: Thermochimica Acta. 721, 179442.

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Ionic interactions control the modulus and mechanical properties of molecular ionic composite electrolytes

Bostwick, J. E., Zanelotti, C. J., Yu, D., Pietra, N. F., Williams, T. A., Madsen, L. A. & Colby, R. H., Jan 21 2022, In: Journal of Materials Chemistry C. 10, 3, p. 947-957 11 p.

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review