Research Information
Research Interests
Karayilan Research Lab is a multidisciplinary research team that develops soft matter solutions for unmet biomedical and technological needs. The team executes a “retrosynthetic” or “reverse-engineering” approach to structure-property-application relationships of polymers for new materials development. We identify current challenges where soft materials might be advantageous with their unique properties in proposed solutions. We then explore functional synthetic and manufacturing constructs with the appropriate properties that address these challenges. We will also maximize the performance of the materials and increase our current understanding of the materials’ design, synthesis, and properties at a molecular level by leveraging the emerging field of data-driven computational models.
Awards and Honors
Publications
- Karayilan, M.*; McDonald, S. M.; Bahnick, A. J.; Godwin, K.; Chan, Y. M.; Becker, M. L. “Reassessing Undergraduate Polymer Laboratory Experiments for Virtual Learning Environments.” J. Chem. Educ., 2022, 99, 5,1877-1889.
- Karayilan, M.*; Vakil, J.; Fowler, D.; Becker, M. L.; Cox, C. “Zooming in on Polymer Chemistry and Designing Synthesis of High-Sulfur Content Polymers for Virtual Undergraduate Laboratory Experiment” J. Chem. Educ., 2021, 98, 6, 2062-2073.
- Karayilan, M.; Clamen, L.; Becker, M. L. “Polymeric Materials for Eye Surface and Intraocular Applications.” Biomacromolecules, 2021, 22, 2, 223-261.
- Clary, K. E.; Karayilan, M.; McCleary-Petersen, K. C.; Petersen, H.; Glass, R. S.; Pyun, J.; Lichtenberger, D. L. “Enhancing the Hydrogen Evolution Reaction in Neutral Water with Protic Buffer Electrolytes.” PNAS, 2020, 117, 52, 32947-32953.
- Karayilan, M.; Brezinski, W. P.; Clary, K. E.; Lichtenberger, D. L.; Glass, R. S.; Pyun, J. “Catalytic Metallopolymers from [2Fe-2S] Clusters: Artificial Metalloenzymes for Hydrogen Production.” Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 2019, 58, 7537-7550.
- Brezinski, W. P.; Karayilan, M.; Clary, K. E.; Pavlopoulos, N. G.; Li, S.; Fu, L. Y.; Matyjaszewski, K.; Evans, D. H.; Glass, R. S.; Lichtenberger, D. L.; Pyun, J. “[FeFe]‐Hydrogenase Mimetic Metallopolymers with Enhanced Catalytic Activity for Hydrogen Production in Water.” Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2018, 57, 11898.
Presentations
The Ohio Polymer and Soft Matter Symposium (OPoSM) Invited Talk | Eye-Catching Polymers: Injectable Fluorescent Viscoelastics for Ocular Surgery | August 2025 Polymers GRC, Mount Holyoke College, MA | Injectable, stimuli-responsive, and fluorescent polymers: Tuning structural heterogeneity to control properties (poster) | June 2025 ACS Cleveland Local Section Meeting in Miniature (MiM) Plenary Talk | Keeping Eyes on Innovation: Injectable Polymeric Materials for Transformative Biomedical Applications | March 2025 Kent State University, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, OH Seminar | Injectable Fluorescent Bottlebrush Polymers for Interventional Procedures | October 2024 Denison University, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, OH Seminar | Injectable and Thermoresponsive Polymers for Biomedical Applications | October 2024 ACS National Meeting (POLY: Stimuli-Responsive Polymers as Functional Biomaterials), Denver, CO | Thermoresponsive and dual-responsive polymers: Tuning structural heterogeneity to control flow characteristics | August 2024 ACS National Meeting (POLY: Incorporating Polymer Science in the Classroom), New Orleans, LA | Summer research activities for ACS Project SEED program in a polymer chemistry laboratory | March 2024 ACS National Meeting (PMSE: General: Novel Applications of Polymeric Materials), New Orleans, LA | Polymeric materials for enhanced ocular treatments | March 2024 CWRU, Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, OH Seminar | Keeping Eyes on the Prize: Polymeric Materials for Ocular Research | October 2023 NSF BioPACIFIC MIP, UC Santa Barbara, CA | Karayilan Research Lab @ CWRU: Fluorescent polymeric viscoelastics for ocular research | August 2023 Polymers GRC, Mount Holyoke College, MA | Synthesis of Polymeric Viscoelastics and Elastomers for Biomedical Research (poster) | June 2023 Thomas Jefferson University, Department of Biological and Chemical Sciences, PA | Synthesis of Polymeric Materials for Ocular Implants | February 2023 (virtual) CWRU, Department of Physics, OH | The 2022 Nobel Prices in Sciences Colloquium: The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2022 | February 2023 Penn State Behrend, Department of Chemistry, Erie, PA | Karayilan Research Lab @ CWRU: Polymer Synthesis and Applications in Biomedical Research | October 2022 CWRU, Department of Macromolecular Science and Engineering, OH Seminar | Synthesis of Polymeric Fluids for Intraocular Lens Implants | September 2022 ACS National Meeting (PMSE: Future Faculty Symposium), San Diego, CA | Polymeric materials with defined viscosity and optical properties for intraocular lens applications | March 2022 ACS National Meeting (POLY: Incorporating Polymer Science into the Classroom), San Diego, CA | Zooming in on polymer chemistry and designing a polymer synthesis experiment for virtual undergraduate laboratory | March 2022