Engineering the Interphase: Heat, Strength, and Circularity
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Event Details
Overview:
Polymer composites are evolving beyond conventional reinforcement and bonding functions into multifunctional materials that integrate thermal transport, mechanical resilience, and end-of-life reprocessability. This webinar examines how engineering the interphase, the molecular-to-microscale region governing interactions between dissimilar materials, can simultaneously enable these functionalities. The talk will highlight how interphase design principles can enhance thermal conductivity, enable recyclable and repairable adhesive chemistries, and improve stress transfer across co-continuous phases. The webinar will provide formulators, R&D scientists, and engineers working in thermal management, structural bonding, and sustainable materials design with a practical framework linking interphase structure and chemistry to macroscopic product performance. Ultimately, the interphase will be presented as a powerful design space for creating the next generation of high-performance, multifunctional, and sustainable materials.
Learning Objectives:
- Role of interphase chemistry on multifunctional performance
- Chemical crosslinking strategies to improve compatibilty across heterogeneous interfaces
- Introduce reprocessable, repariable alternatives to traditional thermosets
- Fundamental understanding of interfacial co-design for emergent properties
- Identifying the correct analytical toolkit to predict processability and performance
Agenda
- Why delibrate design of the interface across heterogeneous phases matter?
- Interfacial "bridges" as a pathway for co-designing thermal and mechanical performance
- Vitrimer chemisry as a reprocessable, repairable alternative to conventional epoxy thermosets
- Manufacturability and processsability of the polymer-based systems
- Multifunctional, resilient, and circular materials for high-performance application
Who Should Attend
The webinar will provide formulators, R&D scientists, and engineers working in thermal management, structural bonding, and sustainable materials design with a practical framework linking interphase structure and chemistry to macroscopic product performance. Some of the applicable industries include B&C, assembly, packaging and transportation.
SPEAKER
Arit Das
Postdoctoral Research Associate
Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Arit Das is a member of the Carbon and Composites Group at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, working at the intersection of polymer physics, interfacial engineering, advanced polymer processing, and multifunctional composite materials. He received his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from Virginia Tech under the guidance of Prof. Michael J. Bortner. His research experience spans polymer composites, additive manufacturing, adhesion science, rheology, and interfacial transport, focusing on understanding how molecular interactions and processing histories govern the evolution and performance of polymer interfaces.
Arit’s current research focuses on the design and understanding of polymer-polymer and polymer-filler interfaces, with particular emphasis on adhesion, interfacial stress transfer, and development of engineered interphases. His work seeks to connect molecular-scale interactions and polymer dynamics with macroscopic mechanical performance by integrating interfacial chemistry, rheology, scattering, microscopy, and mechanical characterization. This multiscale approach enables the establishment of quantitative structure-processing-property relationships relevant to polymer-based advanced manufacturing and multifunctional composite systems.
Arit is an active member of the Adhesion Society and has presented his research regularly at the annual meetings. He served as Chair of the Structural Adhesives Division in 2026, following previous leadership roles within the Society. His contributions have been recognized through multiple honors, including the Peebles Award, Garth L. Wilkes Interdisciplinary Student Scholar Award, AIChE Excellence in Graduate Student Research Award, ACS I&EC Division Graduate Student Award, and Adhesives & Sealants Graduate Research Assistantship Award. He also serves as an Associate Editor for Progress in Additive Manufacturing.