Designing dynamic polymers where new functions emerge from the conversation between transient bonds — built for a circular future.
Postdoctoral Fellow · Autonomous Soft Materials Group
Stratingh Institute for Chemistry, University of Groningen
As a polymer chemist, I design new materials that align with a circular economy for plastics — and give them adaptive, life-like functions inspired by biology.
After a Master's in chemistry from IIT Kharagpur (electrochemistry), I earned my PhD at Eindhoven University of Technology on dynamic covalent networks with Rint Sijbesma and Han Heuts, working mainly with phosphate-ester chemistry and how local forces reshape bond-exchange dynamics. That path led me into mechanochemistry, where I proposed a unifying design concept for molecular catch bonds in polymers.
To see soft matter through a physicist's eyes, I moved to Wageningen University & Research, designing a new class of molecular ionic glasses as sustainable alternatives to glassy polymers — alongside collaborations on underwater adhesives for coral-reef restoration and new dynamic chemistries with partners in India. I am now at the University of Groningen, working on responsive coatings for on-demand delamination and mechano-transduction for chemically driven soft robotics.
Nature builds responsiveness from many transient interactions working together — strain-stiffening muscle, RNA splicing, the polyelectrolyte cement of a sandcastle worm. I design multi-dynamic polymers where this cross-communication between transient bonds becomes a programmable material function. Scroll to move through the themes.
Polymers held together by reversible bonds can flow, heal and reprocess. Using phosphate-ester transesterification and neighbouring-group participation, I build catalyst-free, reprocessable networks and study how molecular exchange maps onto macroscopic flow and topology.
In biology, some bonds grow stronger under load. I proposed a unifying molecular design for covalent catch bonds — where force hinders neighbouring-group participation — and study how catch bonding reshapes the mechanics of a whole polymer network.
The richest natural responses come from several transient interactions talking to one another. I design polymers with more than one dynamic motif and study their cross-communication — aiming for emergent functions like fracture resistance and multi/pluripotency in a single material.
Strong when you need them, gone when you don't. I design responsive coatings and adhesives that bond firmly yet delaminate cleanly on a chemical or physical trigger — from underwater adhesives for coral-reef restoration to programmable, recyclable coatings.
A new class of hydrophobic molecular ionic glasses — broadly processable (even glass-blowable), tunable through charge and spacer design, and selectively re-dissolvable for easy recycling. A sustainable answer to conventional glassy polymers.
# equal contribution. Graphics are scheme-style placeholders — swap in your journal ToC art in the .toc blocks.
Majumdar, S.*# Lu, Y.# Pees, J. te Brake, D. W. Kodger, T. E.* van der Gucht, J.*
Stratingh Institute for Chemistry · University of Groningen
Physical Chemistry & Soft Matter · Wageningen University & Research
Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e)
Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur
Presidency University, Kolkata
Molecular design & synthesis of functional organic molecules, dynamic polymers and stimuli-responsive motifs.
Rheometry, NMR, GPC, electrochemical workstations, FESEM, DLS, SAXS, UV-vis & fluorescence spectroscopy.
Java, Python, MATLAB.
Supervision: 2 Master's & 4 Bachelor's projects, 1 student assistant, and co-supervision of 1 PhD candidate — on phosphorus chemistry, catch bonds, topology & stress relaxation, polyelectrolyte complexes for reefs, and ionic supramolecular networks.
I want to build interdisciplinary introductory courses and hands-on "Research Methods"-style electives, where students build instruments to understand the principles behind them — shrinking the black box of characterisation.
Always glad to discuss collaborations, faculty opportunities, and bioinspired designs for adaptive materials.