Center Overview

Industry/University Cooperative Research Center for Advanced Studies in Novel Surfactants (IUCS) was established in 1998 by the Henry Krumb School of Mines, Department of Chemical Engineering & Applied Chemistry and Department of Chemistry at Columbia University. The Center encompasses detailed structure-property assessment of several classes of surface-active molecules including oligomeric, polymeric, and bio-molecules. The aim of the IUCS is to develop and characterize novel surfactants for industrial applications such as coatings, dispersions, deposition, gas hydrate control, personal care products, soil decontamination, waste treatment, corrosion prevention, flotation and controlled chemical reactions. Our proposed research thus focuses on the design and development of specialty surfactants, characterization of their solution and interfacial behavior and identification of suitable industrial applications for these materials.

The goals of the I/UCS are to:

Perform industrially relevant research to address the technological needs in commercial surfactant and polymer systems.

Develop new and more efficient surface-active reagents for specific applications in the industry and methodologies for optimizing their performance.

Promote the use of environmentally benign surfactants in a wide array of technological processes.

Build a resource center to perform and provide state-of-the-art facilities for characterization of surface-active reagents.