Plastic waste pollution has tremendous environmental and ecological implications. It is estimated that 27 million tons of plastic is discarded to landfills each year while nearly 8 million metric tons end up in the oceans. In recent years, there has been a push to replace petroleum-based commodities with biodegradable alternatives.  However, the rigid and brittle nature of these materials have inhibited them from replacing their petroleum-based counterparts. My research focuses on understanding the mechanism in which small molecule plasticizers disrupt inter-chain interactions in biopolymers in order to fine tune the properties of the material. Structural, mechanical, thermal and morphological characterization techniques are used to fully understand these complex systems. My group also work on problems related to solar energy by bridging the gap between traditional organic and inorganic materials to produce hybrid materials that bring the benefits of each to produce new materials. 

• Scott, H. R.; Pearson C. J.; Ealley, L. C.: Boardman, B. M.; Peters, G. M. Tuning glycerol plasticization of chitosan with boric acid.  Int. J. Biol. Macromol. 2024 258, 129304. 
• Brock, S. E.; Yehorova, D.; Boardman, B. M. Synthesis and properties of fluorene based small molecule acceptors containing aromatic malononitrile functionalities. Results in Chemistry, 2022, 4, 100320.
• Smith, D. R.;  Escobar, A. P.; Andris, M. N.; Boardman, B. M.; Peters, G,M.  Understanding the Molecular Level Interactions of Glucosamine-Glycerol Assemblies: A Model System for Chitosan Plasticization. ACS Omega, 2021, 6, 25227-25234.