Our research activities focus on the structure – property relations in soft polymeric materials.  Swelling, elasticity, spatial inhomogeneity, and the dry-state porosity of such systems depending on their synthesis parameters and the external variables are studied both experimentally and theoretically.  Our research activities also include theory and modeling of gel formation and growth processes by free-radical mechanism.  Several contributions have been made from our group to the understanding of microscopic phenomena occurring during the gel formation.  Main Directions of Research of our Laboratory: 

•Self-healing gels,

•Shape-memory gels,

•Gels with extraordinary mechanical properties,

•Free-radical crosslinking copolymerization kinetics and network structure,

•Formation of macroporous gels via phase separation and cryogelation,

•Hydrogels, including temperature sensitive hydrogels,

•Volume phase transitions in gels,

•Thixotropic physical gels

•Elasticity of biopolymer gels including DNA, silk, 

•Microgels,

•Swelling and elasticity of hydrogels in solvents, in solvent mixtures, in aqueous solutions of salts and linear polymers,

•Rubber elasticity of hydrogels

•Light scattering from gels