John Pojman

Professor & Chair Louisiana State University

  • Baton Rouge LA

Dr. Pojman is known for researching frontal polymerization, nonlinear chemical dynamics, and polymeric systems.

Contact

Louisiana State University

View more experts managed by Louisiana State University

Biography

John Anthony Pojman is a chemist and professor. He is known for researching frontal polymerization, nonlinear chemical dynamics, and polymeric systems. He is the Patricia Senn and William Senn, Jr., Distinguished Professor and Chair of the Department of Chemistry at Louisiana State University (LSU) and the founder of Pojman Polymer Products, LLC. His work has applications in materials science, additive manufacturing, and microgravity polymer processing.

Areas of Expertise

Frontal Polymerization
Non-Linear Chemical Dynamics
Fast-Curing Polymer Composites
Macromolecular Materials
Polymeric Systems

Research Focus

Frontal Polymerization & Fast‑Curing Polymer Composites

Dr. Pojman’s research focuses on frontal polymerization, nonlinear chemical dynamics, and macromolecular materials, developing rapid, cure‑on‑demand polymers and composites for repair, additive manufacturing, and microgravity processing. He couples thermal and photofrontal chemistries with hydrodynamic modeling and real‑time diagnostics to engineer fast‑curing systems; he is the William & Patricia Senn, Jr. Distinguished Professor and chair of LSU’s Department of Chemistry.

Education

University of Texas at Austin

Ph.D.

Chemical Physics

1988

Georgetown University

B.S.

Chemistry

1984

Accomplishments

LSU Alumni Association Faculty Excellence Award

2017

Media Appearances

LSU professor creates QuickCure Clay, combining science, art, aiding wide range of artists

LSU Reveille  online

2020-05-13

QuickCure Clay was formed by the combination of two different worlds: art and science.

The science came from the award-winning scientist Dr. John Pojman and his knowledge of chemistry, and the art came from the creative sculptures all over the U.S.

The clay is unlike any other because of its ability to harden almost instantly with the application of heat. Most sculpting clays need to be set with a kiln for hours, which can be a pricey and tiresome process.

View More

Thousands of gallons of good: LSU chemists help Louisiana prepare large batches of hand rub sanitizer

Phys.org  online

2020-04-06

Last week, Mai and his advisor LSU Chemistry Chair John Pojman helped oversee the formulation of the first two batches of hand rub sanitizer, which were placed into 5,300 bottles for distribution through the state. The chemists followed the World Health Organization's recipe.

"We had to use our knowledge of chemical structures and purity and dilution," Pojman said. "Mixing 670 gallons of liquids and assuring uniformity is completely different than what we do in a research lab where we will typically deal with 100 milliliters at a time."

View More

Articles

Bubble‐Free Frontal Polymerization of Acrylates Using 1, 1, 2, 2‐Tetraphenyl‐1, 2‐Ethanediol as a Free‐Radical Initiator

Journal of Polymer Science

2025

We demonstrated that using 1,1,2,2‐tetraphenylethanediol (TPED) as the free‐radical initiator in the thermal frontal polymerization of acrylates produced samples without voids, as occurs with peroxide initiators, but with velocities ten times slower than most peroxides. Unlike persulfate initiators, which also produce void‐free materials, TPED is commercially available and allows very long shelf lives. TPED has been used for the radical‐induced cationic frontal polymerization of epoxies but has not been studied with acrylates alone.

View more

A Novel Approach to Cure-on-Demand Coatings Using Ammonia to Catalyze Thiol-Acrylate and Thiol-Epoxy Reactions

ACS Omega

2025

Cure-on-demand thiol-acrylate and thiol-epoxy coatings were developed by using ammonia as a catalyst. This novel method is a one-pot formulation that eliminates the need for volatile organic components and introduces a novel curing technique for coatings. Two ammonia sources were employed: a 30% aqueous solution of ammonia and ammonia generated by the urea-urease clock reaction with watermelon seed powder (WMSP) serving as a source of the urease enzyme. The pot lives were extended to at least 30 days by adding stabilizers. The use of the urea-urease clock reaction produced ammonia after a programmable delay, which allowed the coating to be covered with aluminum foil to prevent ammonia loss.

View more

Frontal polymerization in thin layers: Hydrodynamic effects and asymptotic dynamics

The Journal of Chemical Physics

2025

Buoyancy-driven convection currents arise from temperature gradients in thermal frontal polymerization (FP) when the spatially localized polymerization reaction travels perpendicularly to the gravity field. We propose a theoretical study of the system dynamics under adiabatic conditions. The polymer and the reactant mixture are considered to be in the same liquid phase, but the viscosity can increase with the degree of polymerization. We find that the reaction zone propagates as a hot spot-like pattern with a broken symmetry in both the vertical and horizontal directions. Furthermore, the system can reach an asymptotic dynamics characterized by a front with a steady shape that propagates at constant speed with a steady vortex surrounding it.

View more

Show All +

Affiliations

  • American Chemical Society (ACS)
  • American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA)
  • Mississippi Academy of Sciences
  • Sigma Xi Scientific Research Society
  • Sigma Pi Sigma Physics Honor Society

Event Appearances

“Immobilization adjusted Autocatalysis and Clock Behavior in the Urea-Urease Reaction Sytem

2018 | Oscillations and Dynamic Instabilities in Chemical Systems (GRS)  Les Diablerets, Switzerland

Nonlinear Dynamics and Polymers

2018 | American Chemical Society National Meeting  New Orleans, LA

Radical-induced Cationic Frontal Polymerization Using Divinyl Ethers

2018 | American Chemical Society National Meeting  New Orleans, LA

Research Grants

Reduction of Volatile Organic Compounds Through Development of Novel Next Generation Cure-On-Demand Ultra High Solid Non-Skid Coating

Navy

2020-2021

Time-lapse and Cure-on-Demand Polymerization using Autocatalytic Reactions

National Science Foundation

2015-2019

Social