Seminar: Functional Micro/nanostructures and Nanocomposites for Structural Applications

Abstract: For the production of the advanced nanocomposites and nanostructures,thermoplastics and thermoset polymers are used widely due to their unique physical and chemical properties, which are tailored to various applications in the present work. The dimensions and structure of these polymeric materials are tailored by single and multi-axial electrospinning technique. Recently, core-shell micro-/nanofibers and spheres have gained great interest due to their great potential applications, such as textiles, filtration, catalysis, reinforcement and biomedical use. The integration of nanomaterials and encapsulating agents into electrospun structures provides additional functionalities such as biodegradability, self-healing property, improved mechanical and thermal properties, higher surface area, and higher electrical conductivity. For the production of advanced type of nanocomposites, the distinguished properties of graphene are combined with the structural properties of polymers by the proposed simple and low-cost fabrication technique by in-situ and electrospinning and electrospraying techniques. Speaker: Dr. Saner Okan received her BSc degree in Chemistry at Middle East Technical University (METU), Turkey in 2005, her MS degree in 2007 and PhD degree in 2011 in Materials Science and Engineering programme at Sabancı University. She was supported by full scholarships during both MSc and PhD programmes. Dr. Saner Okan was selected as Scifinder Future Leader in 2010 by Chemical Abstract Service. Dr. Saner Okan worked in Sabancı University’s start-up company of NANOTEGO A. S. as technical project manager. She still works as a senior researcher at Sabancı University Nanotechnology Research and Application Center. She is also co-founder of NANOGRAFEN Nano Technological Products Chemistry, R&D, Consulting, Industry and Trade Limited Company. She has 11 articles published in international journals, 2 patent applications and more than 30 conference papers. She has involved in different national and international projects about nanocomposites and nanomaterials.