Edgar A. O'Rear III

Professor
Francis W. Winn Chair of Chemical Engineering
Affiliate Professor of Research
Dental Materials
University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center

Email: eorear@ou.edu
Office: Sarkeys Energy Center, Room T-229
Website

Education
Ph. D. Chemical (Biomedical) Engineering (1981)
Rice University
S.M. Organic Chemistry (1977)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
B.S. Chemistry (1975)
Rice University

Research Focus

Mechanical trauma to the blood
Encapsulated plasminogen activators
Biotransport
Admicellar polymerization
Surfactants

Experience and Awards

Regents' Award for Superior Teaching, 2018
Fellow with the American Institute of Chemical Engineers 2018
Co-founder and member, Institute for Applied Surfactant Research (1986-present)
Visiting Senior Researcher, Hitachi Central Research Laboratory, Japan (1988); Visiting Scientist RIKEN - Institute for Physical and Chemical Research, Japan (1992)
Program Director, Interfacial, Transport and Separations Program, National Science Foundation (1993-94)
Visiting Professor, Chulalongkorn University; (Summer 1995-2015); Director, University of Oklahoma Bioengineering Center (1999-2010);
Associate Dean for Research (1995-1999)
Secretary General (1992-99), Vice President (1999-2002), and President (2002-2005) of the International Society of Biorheology
Alpha Phi Omega Teaching Award 1999
Fellow, American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineers
Governor’s Cup, Inventor 2008
A.I.Ch.E. Student Chapter Orifice Teaching Award 2008, 2009
Inventor of the Year Award 2009
Advisory Board, Journal of Biorheology, (2009-present)
Regents’ Award for Superior Research, 2010
Chair, University of Oklahoma Faculty Senate, 2013-14
Gallogly College of Engineering Pursuit of Excellence Faculty Award, 2016

About

My research interests are in the two principal areas of surfactant science and biomedical engineering. Using an interfacial polymerization process very similar to emulsion polymerization, we are modifying the surfaces of commercially important materials and also exploring the technique as a means of forming unusual polymers. Our efforts focus on learning the range of versatility of the method and on characterizing these thin polymer films. Other projects in the surface science group involve surfactant-based separations and the synthesis and study of novel surfactants. One of these is a double tail surfactant with a hydrocarbon chain and a fluorocarbon chain. We believe this extraordinary surfactant will form striated reverse, rod-like micellar aggregates which we have called "candy cane" micelles.

Within biomedical engineering, my students and I are interested in biotransport phenomena and particularly in biorheology. We are investigating thrombolysis or the dissolution of blood clots by plasminogen activators. In addition, damage to blood associated with the non-Physiolgic flow that occurs in some medical devices.

Selected Publications

Conductivity improvement of magnetite and hematite nanoparticles via admicellar polymerization of polypyrrole(with P. Kongsat, T. Pongprayoon) J Ind Eng Chem 113: 540-552, 2022.
Sublethal damage to erythrocytes during blood flow(with M. Avci, K. M. Foster, D.V. Papavassiliou) Fluids 7: 66(16 pages), 2022.
Synthesis of structure-controlled hematite nanoparticles by a surfactant-assisted hydrothermal method and property analysis(with P. Kongsat, K Kudkaew, J Tangjai, T Pongprayoon) J Phys Chem Solids 148:109685(12 pages) 2021.
Elongational Stresses and Cells(with K. M. Foster, D.V. Papavassiliou) Cells 10(9):2352(21 pages) ,2021.
Hemolysis Estimation in Turbulent Flow for the FDA Critical Path Initiative Centrifugal Blood Pump(with M. Avci, M. Heck, D. V. Papavassiliou) Biomechanics and Modeling in Mechanobiology 20: 1709-1722, 2021.
Production of erythrocyte microparticles in a sub-hemolytic environment(J. P. Buerck, D. K. Burke, D. W. Schmidtke, T. A. Snyder, D. V. Papavassiliou). J Artif Organs 24:135-145, 2021.
Effect of Morphologically Controlled Hematite Nanoparticles on the Properties of Fly Ash Blended Cement(with P. Kongsat, S. Sinthupinyo, T. Pongprayoon) Nanomaterials 11:1003.(19 pages), 2021
Admicellar polymerization of a co-fluoropolymer ultrathin film on TiO2 nanoparticles for use as a photocatalytic cement(with J. Yuenyongsuwan, T. Pongprayoon) Surfaces and Interfaces 25:101172, 2021
Rheology of Asphalt Binder with High Percentages of RAP Binder Rejuvenated with Waste Vegetable Oil(with C. R. Dugan, C. R. Sumter, S. Rani, S.A. Ali, M. Zaman) ACS Omega 5:15791-15798, 2020.
The Applicability of a Drop Penetration Method to Measure Contact Angles on TiO2 and ZnO Nanoparticles(with S. Garner, S. Khajotia, F. Esteban Florez) Nanomaterials 10: 1099(13 pages), 2020.
A Flow Induced Autoimmune Response and Accelerated Senescence of Red Blood Cells in Cardiovascular Devices (with J. P. Buerck, D. K. Burke, D. W. Schmidtke, T. A. Snyder D. V. Papavassiliou) Sci Rep-UK 9:19443(10 pages), 2019.