Reza Foudazi

Research Focus

The current research activities in Dr. Foudazi’s group are self-assembly of amphiphilic molecules, templating approach for synthesis of porous polymers, and rheology of soft matter, with the long-term goal of producing responsive multifunctional materials for sustainability and environmental applications. Some examples of projects in Dr. Foudazi’s lab are:

• Stimuli-responsive ultrafiltration membranes: ultrafiltration membranes are used for water treatment, protein purification, viral filtration, etc. Currently, the available membranes have a fixed pore size, and thus a limited selectivity. Additionally, a lot of solvent is needed for making membranes which is harmful to the environment. In this research, we produce membranes that have better separation performance compared to conventional membranes and are also responsive to temperature and pH.
• PFAS removal from water resources: PFAS  are Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances, known as forever chemicals as they do not break down in the environment. In the U.S., PFAS contaminated water supplies are found in 49 states. PFAS have severe health effects to the wildlife, human, and environment. In this research, we are developing an efficient system for PFAS removal from drinking water.
• Porous polymers for environmental applications: We synthesize multifunctional porous polymers through emulsion- and foam-templating methods. The obtained porous polymers  are used for different applications, such as water retention in soil for agriculture, microfiltration membranes, and adsorbents for heavy metal removal.
• Rheology of structured liquids: We measure rheological material functions (e.g., yield stress, relaxation time, viscoelastic moduli) for suspensions, (nano)emulsions, liquid crystals, etc. in different states (liquid, glass and gel).

 NMSU Intellectual Property Award, New Mexico State University (2021).

American Chemical Society PMSE Young Investigator (2020).

PPS Early Career Award, Awarded by Polymer Processing Society (PPS) to outstanding young researcher in the field (2019).

Winner of Arrowhead LAUNCH Competition, Project: Prosthetic Sleeve Liner, $20,000 award by the Hunt Family Foundation, LAUNCH is a four-month accelerator in which the commercial potential of promising inventions is developed with support and guidance from Arrowhead Center at New Mexico State University. (2018).

Best Poster Award, 2017 Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies (CINT) Annual Meeting, Los Alamos National Laboratory (2017).

University Research Council, Early Career Award, New Mexico State University (2016).

Recognized in the Mentoring Excellence program of New Mexico State University (2016).

PPG Award for Applied Polymer Excellence (2012).

1.       A. Bandegi, K. Kim, R. Foudazi, “Ion transport in polymerized lyotropic liquid crystals containing ionic liquid”, J. Polymer Science, Accepted (2021).

2.       Y. Saadat, O.Q. Imran, C.O. Osuji, R. Foudazi, “Lyotropic liquid crystals as templates for advanced materials”, J. Materials Chemistry A, Accepted (2021).

3.       P. G Cohn, S. Qavi, J. Cubuk, M. Jani, M.L. Megdad, D. Shah, C. Cattafi, P. Baul, S. Rajaraman, R. Foudazi, “Getting control of hydrogel networks with cross-linkable monomers”, J. Materials Chemistry B, Accepted (2021).

4.       A. Bandegi, M.M. Garcia, J.L. Bañuelos, M.A. Firestone, R. Foudazi, “Soft nanoconfinement of ionic liquids in lyotropic liquid crystals”, Soft Matter 17, 8118-8129 (2021).

5.       E. Wade, R. Zowada, R. Foudazi, “Alginate and guar gum spray application for improving soil aggregation and soil crust integrity”, Carbohydrate Polymer Technologies and Applications 2, 100114 (2021).

6.       M. Zhou, R. Foudazi, “Effect of Cosurfactant on Structure and Properties of Polymerized High Internal Phase Emulsions (PolyHIPEs)”, Langmuir 37, 26, 7907-7918 (2021).

7.       Z. Emami, M. Ehsani, M. Zandi, H. Daemi, M. Ghanian, R. Foudazi, “Modified hydroxyapatite nanoparticles reinforced nanocomposite hydrogels based on gelatin/oxidized alginate via Schiff base reaction”, Carbohydrate Polymer Technologies and Applications 2, 100056 (2021).

8.       N. Sanatkaran, M. Zhou, R. Foudazi, “Rheology of macro-and nano-emulsions in the presence of micellar depletion attraction”, Journal of Rheology 65, 453-461 (2021).

9.       R. Foudazi, “HIPEs to PolyHIPEs”, Reactive and Functional Polymers 164, 104917 (2021). Invited Perspective.

10.    S. Hashemi Astaneh, F. Goharpey, R. Foudazi, “Effect of nanoclay on relaxation and breakup of polyamide 6 threads in polystyrene matrix”, Polymer Engineering & Science 61, 432-441 (2021).

11.    P. Dhavalikar, J. Shenoi, K. Salhadar, M. Chwatko, G. Rodriguez-Rivera, J. Cheshire, R. Foudazi, E. Cosgriff-Hernandez, “Engineering Toolbox for Systematic Design of PolyHIPE Architecture”, Polymers 13, 1479 (2021).

12.    Y. Saadat, K. Kim, R. Foudazi, “Initiator-dependent kinetics of lyotropic liquid crystal-templated thermal polymerization”, Polymer Chemistry 12, 2236-2252 (2021).

13.    Z. Abbasian Chaleshtari, H. Salimi-Kenari, R. Foudazi, “Interdroplet Interactions and Rheology of Concentrated Nanoemulsions for Templating Porous Polymers”, Langmuir 37, 76–89 (2021).

14.    F. Lessan, R. Foudazi, “Effect of [EMIM][BF4] ionic liquid on the properties of ultrafiltration membranes”, Polymer 210, 122977 (2020).

15.    Z. Abbasian Chaleshtari, R. Foudazi, “Polypyrrole@ polyHIPE composites for hexavalent chromium removal from water”, ACS Applied Polymer Materials 2, 3196-3204 (2020).

16.    R. Zowada, R. Foudazi, “Polyfoam: Foam-Templated Microcellular Polymers”, Langmuir 36, 7868-7878 (2020).

17.    A. Zohrevand, F. Goharpey, J. Nasrollah Gavgani, R. Foudazi, “The effect of aggregation of cured rubber particles on rheology of thermoplastic vulcanizates”, Polymer Composites, 41, 1376-1392 (2020).

18.    R. Foudazi, B. Zhao, P. Gokun, I. Manas-Zloczower, S.J. Rowan, D.L. Feke, “The effect of shear on the evolution of morphology in high internal phase emulsions used as templates for structural and functional polymer foams”, ACS Applied Polymer Materials 2, 1579-1586 (2020).

19.    A. Shababdoust, M. Zandi, M. Ehsani, P. Shokrollahi, R. Foudazi, “Controlled curcumin release from nanofibers based on amphiphilic-block segmented polyurethanes”, International Journal of Pharmaceutics, 575, 118947 (2020).

20.    F. Lessan, M. Karimi, J.L. Bañuelos, R. Foudazi, “Phase separation and performance of polyethersulfone/cellulose nanocrystals membranes”, Polymer 186, 121969 (2020).

21.    A. Bandegi, J.L. Bañuelos, R. Foudazi, “Formation of ion gels by polymerization of block copolymer/ionic liquid/oil mesophases”, Soft Matter 16, 6102-6114 (2020).

22.    P. Kiany, F. Goharpey, M. Karimi, R. Foudazi, “Hybrids of bowl-like and crumpled hollow carbon particles synthesized through encapsulation templating”, Langmuir 36, 130-140 (2019).

23.    S. Qavi, A. Bandegi, M. Firestone, R. Foudazi, “Polymerization in soft nanoconfinements of lamellar and reverse hexagonal mesophases”, Soft Matter 15, 8238-8250 (2019). Highlighted in back cover.

24.    A. Salehi, G. Pircheraghi, R. Foudazi, “Pore structure evolution during sintering of HDPE particles”, Polymer 183, 121865 (2019).

25.    S. Qavi, R. Foudazi, “Rheological characteristics of block copolymer/water/oil mesophases”, Rheologica Acta 58, 483-498 (2019). Invited paper.

26.    S. Qavi, M. Firestone, R. Foudazi, “Elasticity and yielding of mesophases of block copolymers in water-oil mixtures”, Soft Matter 15, 5626-5637 (2019).

27.    J.A. De Lora, F.A. Fencl, A.D.Y. Macias Gonzalez, A. Bandegi, R. Foudazi, G.P. Lopez, A.P. Shreve, N.J. Carroll, “Oil-free Acoustofluidic Droplet Generation for 3D Cell Culture”, ACS Applied Bio Materials 2, 4097-4105 (2019).

28.    A. Malakian, M. Zhou, R. Zowada, R. Foudazi, “Synthesis and in-situ functionalization of microfiltration membranes via high internal phase emulsion templating”, Polymer International 68, 1378-1386 (2019).