Advanced wound dressings improve wound healing by releasing antibacterial agents, accelerating wound closure, and reporting changes in the wound's state. We are developing 3D printed programmable multicomponent hydrogel wound dressings that selectively (site-specifically) release ions, small molecules, metal nanoparticles, and proteins for enhanced wound healing. We are also interested in antibacterial wound dressings that sequester of ions and molecules much needed by bacteria, thus depriving bacteria growth in wounds.

We conceptualize and synthesize nanoparticle-based inks for 3D printing. Such inks, in addition, to the functionality provided by nanoparticles, have highly beneficial rheological properties such as shear thinning and self-healing.

We conceptualize, design, and synthesize polymer materials that undergo shape change in response to external stimulus. and have applications in soft robotics, drug delivery, sensing, and cell culture. Actuation occurs due to differential materials’s response to the stimulus and is achieved by modulating its composition or structural anisotropy.

We are interested in hydrogels that selectively uptake heavy metal ions from water. Currently, we have demonstrated high scavenging capacity for Hg2+, Cu2+, Ni2+, and Ag+ ions for hydrogels that have a large surface area and abundance of ion-coordinating sites.