Mark proudly hails from Baton Rouge and received bachelor’s degrees in Physics and Chemistry from Louisiana State University, with research backgrounds in polymer synthesis and surface characterization. He joined the UChicago Department of Physics in the fall of 2016, and studies under Dr. Shrayesh Patel in the Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering, bringing his knowledge of polymers and materials science to work. Mark believes very strongly in science communication and policy, having originated “Experimental”, LSU’s podcast that highlights its researchers and research, and continues to strive towards educating himself about how to bring science to and to make science work for a broader audience.
Multipotent Elastomers via Tempering of Phase-Separated Dynamic Covalent Networks
Nicholas R Boynton, Camaryn M Bennett, Trevor D Hagan, Gabrielle R Solymosy, Charlie A Lindberg, Naomi A Schaller, Stephanie L Vivod, Shrayesh N Patel, Stuart J Rowan. ACS Macro Lett. (2025), 14, 11, 1728–1734. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsmacrolett.5c00653.
Spin Glass Behavior and Giant Magnetoresistance via Aliovalent Fe/Ni Alloying in Amorphous Tetrathiafulvalene-Tetrathiolate Coordination Polymers
Chen-Yu Lien, Jie-Hao Chen, Anna O Schouten, Grant R Wilkinson, Di Wang, Jan Hofmann, Maia E Czaikowski, Barbara Lavina, Alexander S Filatov, Karena W Chapman, Andrew P Higginbotham, Dmitri V Talapin, David A Mazziotti, Henry S La Pierre, Shrayesh N Patel, John S Anderson. J. Am. Chem. Soc. (2025), 147, 43, 39590–39598. https://doi.org/10.1021/jacs.5c12985.
Pre-synthetic redox control of structure and properties in copper TTFtt coordination polymers
Ningxian Jiang, Saranya Velliyarat, Chen-Yu Lien, Ha L Nguyen, Jan Hofmann, Arun Ramanathan, Alexander S Filatov, Henry Storms La Pierre, Shrayesh Patel, Jie-Hao Chen, Karena Chapman, Jan-Niklas Boyn, John S Anderson. Chem. Sci., (2025), 16, 19304-19316. https://doi.org/10.1039/D5SC03070F.
The Role of Water Volume Fraction on Water Adsorption in Anion Exchange Membranes
Gervasio Zaldivar, Ruilin Dong, Joan M Montes de Oca, Ge Sun, Riccardo Alessandri, Christopher G Arges, Shrayesh N Patel, Paul F Nealey, Juan J de Pablo. Macromolecules 2025 58 (18), 9972-9982. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.macromol.5c01256.
Role of Crosslinking and Backbone Segmental Dynamics on Ion Transport in Hydrated Anion‐Conducting Polyelectrolytes
Zhongyang Wang, Kai Wang, Christopher Eom, Yuxi Chen, Ge Sun, Mincheol Kim, Joan M Montes de Oca, Dongyue Liang, Kushal Bagchi, Shrayesh N Patel, Juan J de Pablo, Paul F Nealey. Adv. Funct. Mater. (2025): e14589. https://doi.org/10.1002/adfm.202514589.
IEC-Independent Coupling between Water Uptake and Ionic Conductivity in Anion-Conducting Polymer Films
Joan M Montes de Oca, Ruilin Dong, Gervasio Zaldivar, Ge Sun, Zhongyang Wang, Shrayesh N Patel, Paul F Nealey, Juan J de Pablo. Macromolecules, 2025, 58 (12), 6134-6148. DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.5c00934.
Study of self-assembly behavior and ionic conductivity of conjugated liquid crystals with T-shaped facial-polyphilic structure
Ziwei Liu, Yangyang Sun, Ban Xuan Dong, Shrayesh N Patel, Paul F Nealey, Fernando A Escobedo, Christopher K Ober. Sci. Adv. 11, eadt8303 (2025). DOI:10.1126/sciadv.adt8303.
Should I stay or should I flow? An exploration of phase-separated metallosupramolecular liquid crystal polymers
Charlie A Lindberg, Alice E Roberson, Elina Ghimire, Jerald E Hertzog, Nicholas R Boynton, Guancen Liu, Deborah K Schneiderman, Shrayesh N Patel, Stuart J Rowan. Chem. Eur. J., 31: e202404672. https://doi.org/10.1002/chem.202404672.
Enhanced Ion Transport and Molecular Packing Stability in Asymmetric 2D Nanostructured π‐Conjugated Thieno [3, 2‐b] Thiophene‐Based Liquid Crystal
Chaoqiuyu Wang, Yangyang Sun, Zhongyang Wang, Wen Chen, Danya Liu, Joseph Strzalka, Shrayesh N Patel, Paul F Nealey, Christopher K Ober, Fernando A Escobedo. Adv. Funct. Mater. 2025, 35, 2423541. https://doi.org/10.1002/adfm.202423541.
Water-mediated ion transport in an anion exchange membrane
Zhongyang Wang, Ge Sun, Nicholas HC Lewis, Mrinmay Mandal, Abhishek Sharma, Mincheol Kim, Joan M Montes de Oca, Kai Wang, Aaron Taggart, Alex B Martinson, Paul A Kohl, Andrei Tokmakoff, Shrayesh N Patel, Paul F Nealey, Juan J de Pablo. Nat. Commun. 16, 1099 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-55621-z.