de Pablo Group

Ivan Lyubimov

  • Postdoctoral Researcher

  • Contact: ilyubimo@uchicago.edu
    773.834.2912
  • Office Location:

    Searle Laboratory 105
    5735 South Ellis Avenue
    Chicago, IL 60637

Lyubimov was trained as a theoretical condensed matter physicist and obtained his BS and MS from Kazan Federal University. He also pursued statistical mechanics and polymer physics studies. Under the supervision of Professor Nail Fatkullin, his thesis project dealt with theoretical description of the frequency dependence of spin-lattice relaxation in homopolymer melts and defended in 2006.

In 2012, Lyubimov completed his PhD in physical chemistry at the University of Oregon with Professor Marina Guenza. His PhD work was focused on developing a theoretical frame for reconstructing dynamics of heavily coarse-grained polymer melts analytically. After earning his PhD, Lyubimov joined Professor de Pablo’s group and became involved in stable glass projects.

Recently, it has been shown both experimentally and computationally that the formation of remarkably kinetically stable glasses is possible. Such glassy materials have superior thermodynamic and mechanical properties that are of interest not only for applications and technology but also for the fundamentals of glass transition and supercooled liquid state.

Some of the focuses of our work are to understand the mechanisms and to validate the principle ideas of stable glass formation. We are developing an efficient way to obtain stable glasses by molecular dynamics simulations and other computational methods. Controlling the enhanced mobility of molecules can lead to more relaxed configurations and more easily form stable materials. Characterization and comparison of the stable glasses’ properties against ordinary glasses’ properties provide valuable insights and allow us to obtain sudden structural differences between ordinary and stable glasses.

Influence of vapor deposition on structural and charge transport properties of ethylbenzene films

Antony, Lucas W., et al. "Influence of vapor deposition on structural and charge transport properties of ethylbenzene films." ACS central science 3.5 (2017): 415-424.

Age and structure of a model vapour-deposited glass

Reid, Daniel R., et al. "Age and structure of a model vapour-deposited glass." Nature communications 7 (2016): 13062.

Inherent structure energy is a good indicator of molecular mobility in glasses

Helfferich, Julian, et al. "Inherent structure energy is a good indicator of molecular mobility in glasses." Soft matter 12.27 (2016): 5898-5904.

Orientational anisotropy in simulated vapor-deposited molecular glasses

Lyubimov, Ivan, et al. "Orientational anisotropy in simulated vapor-deposited molecular glasses." The Journal of chemical physics 143.9 (2015): 094502.

Tunable molecular orientation and elevated thermal stability of vapor-deposited organic semiconductors

Dalal, Shakeel S., et al. "Tunable molecular orientation and elevated thermal stability of vapor-deposited organic semiconductors." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 112.14 (2015): 4227-4232.

Molecular modeling of vapor-deposited polymer glasses

Po-Han Lin, Ivan Lyubimov, Lian Yu, M. D. Ediger, and Juan J. de Pablo. PVD Polymer Glasses. Journal of Chemical Physics. 2014. Vol. 140.

Model vapor-deposited glasses: Growth front and composition effects

Lyubimov, Ivan, Mark D. Ediger, and Juan J. de Pablo. "Model vapor-deposited glasses: Growth front and composition effects." The Journal of chemical physics 139.14 (2013): 144505.