Sungjin Kim

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Dr. Sungjin Kim is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering at UNM. He obtained his Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering from MIT as a Samsung Scholarship Fellow. He holds M.S. and B.S. degrees in Materials Science and Engineering from KAIST. He also studied at Georgia Tech as an undergraduate exchange student. Prior to joining UNM, he worked at ORNL as a research staff in Manufacturing Science Division, and before that, a postdoctoral scholar at Chemical Science Division. Before beginning his doctoral studies at MIT, he worked as a research engineer at SKC Co., Ltd., SK Group in South Korea. His overarching research interests include energy-efficient, bioinspired polymeric materials design and manufacturing strategies for better sustainability and healthcare. His research involves investigating physicochemistry of dynamic crosslinking, bioinspired mineralization and organic-inorganic interaction, and using these principles to produce desired 3D structures for industrial, environmental, and biomedical applications through additive manufacturing.

Professional Experience

• 2023-Present: Assistant Professor, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, The University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM
• 2023: R&D Associate Staff, Manufacturing Science Division, Energy Science and Technology Directorate, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN
• 2020-2023: Postdoctoral Researcher, Chemical Science Division, Physical Sciences Directorate, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN
• 2011-2014: Research Engineer, Advanced Technology R&D Center, SKC Co., Ltd., SK Group, Suwon, Korea

Awards

• 2014-2019 Samsung Scholarship Fellow
• 2013 Fulbright Scholarship Selectee (Declined in favor of Samsung Scholarship)
• 2012 Research Report of the Year Award, SKC Co., Ltd., SK Group
• 2011 Outstanding New Researcher Award, SKC Co., Ltd., SK Group
• 2009-2011 Government Scholarship (Natural Sciences and Engineering), Ministry of Education and Science Technology, Korea

Selected Publications

• Kim, S.*, Lee, M., Hong, M., and Holten-Andersen, N.*, 2022. Quantitative correlation between bound water and mechanical stress relaxation in dehydrated metal-coordinate polymer networks. Chemistry of Materials, 34(23), pp.10329–10337.
• Kim, S., Rahman, M.A., Arifuzzaman, M., Gilmer, D., Li, B., Wilt, J.K., Lara-Curzio, E., and Saito, T.*, 2022. Closed-loop additive manufacturing of upcycled commodity plastic through dynamic crosslinking. Science Advances, 8(22), p.eabn6006.
• Rahman, M.A., Bowland, C., Ge, S., Acharya, S.R., Kim, S., Cooper, V.R., Chen, X., Irle, S., Sokolov, A.P., Savara, A. and Saito, T.*, 2021. Design of tough adhesive from commodity thermoplastics through dynamic crosslinking. Science Advances, 7(42), p.eabk2451.
• Kim, S., Regitsky, A.U., Song, J., Ilavsky, J., McKinley, G.H. and Holten-Andersen, N.*, 2021. In situ mechanical reinforcement of polymer hydrogels via metal-coordinated crosslink mineralization. Nature Communications, 12(1), pp.1-10.
• Kim, S., Peterson, A.M. and Holten-Andersen, N.*, 2018. Enhanced water retention maintains energy dissipation in dehydrated metal-coordinate polymer networks: another role for Fe-catechol cross-links?. Chemistry of Materials, 30(11), pp.3648-3655.
• Kim, S., Ku, S.H., Lim, S.Y., Kim, J.H. and Park, C.B.*, 2011. Graphene–biomineral hybrid materials. Advanced Materials, 23(17), pp.2009-2014.