S.B. Chemical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2010
Ph.D. Chemical Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, 2016
Honors and Awards
- Alfred Rheinstein Faculty Award, 2023
- DOE Early Career Award, 2022
- Young Professional Winner, Scientista ‘Born Seekers’ Fellowship, 2019
- International Research Fellowship Award, UCSB International Center for Materials Research, 2015
Research Interests
Our group is passionate about addressing pressing needs in both human health and the health of the planet, and inspired by the integrated, hierarchical materials ubiquitously leveraged by the natural world. We aim to address these needs via synthetic systems that use a combination of molecular level polymer design, controlled local self-assembly, and structural integration and alignment via additive manufacturing to achieve functional, hierarchical materials featuring structural control from the molecular to the macroscopic. We achieve this by working at the intersection of polymer synthesis, polymer characterization, polymer physics and self-assembly, and additive manufacturing.
Our specific research interests include: (1) investigating fundamental science linking polymer structure and function in new classes of stimuli-responsive and actuating elastomers and gels, (2) programming alignment and integration of functional polymers via additive manufacturing, linking local structure-directing processes with emergent properties and new applications, and (3) developing sustainable and degradable polymers and block copolymers.
- A.S. Fergerson, B.H. Gorse, S.M. Maguire, E.C. Ostermann, E.C. Davidson, Reprocessable and mechanically tailored soft architectures through 3D printing of elastomeric block copolymers,” Advanced Functional Materials, 2024, DOI: 10.1002/adfm.202411812
- E.C. Davidson, A. Kotikian, S. Li, J. Aizenberg, J.A. Lewis, “3D Printable and Reconfigurable Liquid Crystal Elastomers with Light-Induced Shape Memory via Dynamic Bond Exchange,” Advanced Materials, 2019, DOI: 10.1002/adma.201905682
- M. Barry,* E.C. Davidson,* C. Zhang, A.L. Patterson, B. Yu, A.K. Leonardi, N. Duzen, K. Malaviya, J.L. Clarke, J.A. Finlay, A.S. Clare, Z. Chen, C.K. Ober, R.A. Segalman, “The Role of Hydrogen Bonding in Peptoid-based Marine Antifouling Coatings,” Macromolecules, 2019, DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.8b02390
- E.C. Davidson,* A.M. Rosales,* A.L. Patterson, B. Russ, B.Yu, R.N. Zuckermann, R.A. Segalman, “Impact of Chain Shape in Sequence-Defined Polymers on Polypeptoid Block Copolymer Self-Assembly,” Macromolecules, 2018, 51(5), 2089-2098. DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.8b00055
