Faculty Profiles

Michael Rubinstein
Michael Rubinstein
Professor of Chemistry
Office: 
3377 Fciemas Building, Box 90300, Durham, NC 27708
Phone: 
(919) 660-5365
michael.rubinstein@duke.edu
Rubinstein Lab
Research Interests: 

The research of the Rubinstein group is in the field of polymer theory and computer simulations. The unique properties of polymeric systems are due to the size, topology and interactions of the molecules they are made of. Our goal is to understand the properties of various polymeric systems and to design new systems with even more interesting and useful properties.

Our approach is based upon building and solving simple molecular models of different polymeric systems. The models we develop are simple enough to be solved either analytically or numerically, but contain the main features leading to unique properties of real polymers. Computer simulations of our models serve as an important bridge between analytical calculations and experiments.

Overview

Education:

Ph.D., Harvard University 1983

Shusharina, N. P., et al. “Scaling Theory of Diblock Polyampholyte Solutions.” Macromolecules, vol. 38, no. 21, American Chemical Society (ACS), Oct. 2005, pp. 8870–81. Crossref, doi:10.1021/ma051324g. Full Text

Zhulina, Ekaterina B., et al. “Diblock Copolymer Micelles in a Dilute Solution.” Macromolecules, vol. 38, no. 12, American Chemical Society (ACS), June 2005, pp. 5330–51. Crossref, doi:10.1021/ma048102n. Full Text

Panyukov, Sergey, and Michael Rubinstein. “Explanation of Anomalous Scaling of Swollen Entangled Chains.” Macromolecules, vol. 38, no. 8, American Chemical Society (ACS), Apr. 2005, pp. 3511–14. Crossref, doi:10.1021/ma047860a. Full Text

André, Pascal, et al. “Light Scattering Study of Polydimethyl Siloxane in Liquid and Supercritical Carbon Dioxide†.” The Journal of Physical Chemistry A, vol. 108, no. 45, American Chemical Society (ACS), Nov. 2004, pp. 9901–07. Crossref, doi:10.1021/jp0481308. Full Text

Dobrynin, Andrey V., et al. “Polyampholytes.” Journal of Polymer Science Part B: Polymer Physics, vol. 42, no. 19, Wiley, Oct. 2004, pp. 3513–38. Crossref, doi:10.1002/polb.20207. Full Text

LaRue, Isaac, et al. “Wormlike Micelles of Block Copolymers:  Measuring the Linear Density by AFM and Light Scattering.” Macromolecules, vol. 37, no. 13, American Chemical Society (ACS), June 2004, pp. 5002–05. Crossref, doi:10.1021/ma049845b. Full Text

Granick, S., and M. Rubinstein. “Polymers: A Multitude of Macromolecules”.” Nature Materials, vol. 3, 2004, pp. 586–87.

Graham, Richard S., et al. “Microscopic theory of linear, entangled polymer chains under rapid deformation including chain stretch and convective constraint release.” Journal of Rheology, vol. 47, no. 5, Society of Rheology, Sept. 2003, pp. 1171–200. Crossref, doi:10.1122/1.1595099. Full Text

Dobrynin, Andrey V., and Michael Rubinstein. “Effect of Short-Range Interactions on Polyelectrolyte Adsorption at Charged Surfaces†.” The Journal of Physical Chemistry B, vol. 107, no. 32, American Chemical Society (ACS), Aug. 2003, pp. 8260–69. Crossref, doi:10.1021/jp0225323. Full Text

Liao, Qi, et al. “Molecular Dynamics Simulations of Polyelectrolyte Solutions:  Osmotic Coefficient and Counterion Condensation.” Macromolecules, vol. 36, no. 9, American Chemical Society (ACS), May 2003, pp. 3399–410. Crossref, doi:10.1021/ma0259968. Full Text

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