About Our Lab

One of the hallmark experiences of being a student at The University of Texas involves active participation in major-related laboratory work. Yet, given the daily utilization of approximately 200 dedicated laboratory units across our campus, it is an inevitable consequence that the university generates a significant volume of solid plastics, including single-use pipettes, petri dishes, test tubes, and more. In the realm of research and laboratory activities, the imperative need to prevent cross-contamination and ensure the highest quality results necessitates the substantial consumption of plastic materials. Unfortunately, this consumption generates plastic waste that may potentially contain hazardous chemicals, making it an unattractive or unprofitable recycling proposition for many organizations.

This is why our initiative has two interconnected objectives. First, we aim to employ polymer chemistry and advanced processing techniques such as single screw extrusion and injection molding to upscale and reduce the volume of thermoplastic wastes generated on campus. Simultaneously, we’re focused on establishing a circular economy of plastic waste management, transforming waste into valuable materials for other engineering applications. Achieving these goals requires the necessary technology for fabricating and testing innovative polymer materials.

Polymer Processing

We employ small scale polymer processing equipment to develop our research and propose solutions to reduce solid waste in our campus. We employ different techniques to process and test our products:

• Injection Molding
• Single-screw Extrusion
• 3D printing
• Spin-coating
• Morphology, rheology, thermal properties, and tensile testing