• Postdoctoral Research Associate, University of Minnesota, 2004-2006
• PhD, Polymer Science and Engineering, University of Massachusetts – Amherst, 2004
• BS, Chemistry, METU, Turkey, 1998

• UB Exceptional Scholar: Sustained Achievement Award, 2021
  
• UB Young Investigator Award, 2012
  
• Fellow of Polymer Chemistry Division, ACS, 2012
  
• Herman F. Mark Young Scholar Award, ACS Division of Polymer Chemistry, 2011
  
• National Science Foundation CAREER Award, 2009
  
• Valedictorian, METU, Turkey, 1998

• Novel synthetic approaches in polymer chemistry
  
• Molecular bottlebrushes
  
• Polymer self-assembly
  
• Nanoporous materials
  
• Organic/inorganic hybrid materials

Our research program embraces all the steps of a successful materials design, from building tailored polymer structures and architectures to analyzing their supramolecular organization to testing their macroscale properties. We synthesize complex macromolecular architectures and study how these molecules come together to form a solid state material or discrete assemblies in solution. Over the years, we have developed extensive synthetic expertise that allows us to push the limits of what is achievable in terms of creating multicomponent macromolecules with well-defined dimensions, shapes and compositions. We are using these macromolecules as building blocks to create nanostructured materials to benefit a variety of applications where nanoscale domains play a critical role in dictating the function of the material. At the same time, recognizing a major societal challenge, we are developing chemistry tools to convert commodity plastic waste into valuable materials. Our group's fundamental research in synthetic chemistry, molecular design and assembly helps global efforts in developing nanostructured materials for filtration, water purification, and energy storage, as well as polymer upcycling. A number of established collaborative efforts have helped us to enhance our structural characterization capabilities and develop materials for functional applications.

• Chen, Z.; Hu, M.; Li, X.; Smith, D.M.; Seong, H-G.; Emrick, T.; Rzayev, J.*; Russell, T. P.* “In Situ Hydrolysis of Block Copolymers at the Water-Oil Interface”, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2022, in press. DOI: 10.1002/anie.202201392
• Aviv, Y.; Altay, E.; Burg, O.; Mueller, M.*; Rzayev, J.*; Shenhar, R.* “Bottlebrush Block Copolymer Assembly in Ultraconfined Films: Effect of Substrate Selectivity”, Macromolecules 2021, 54, 2079.  DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.0c02057
• Jiang, L.; Nykypanchuk, D.; Pastore, V. J.; Rzayev, J.* “Morphological Behavior of Compositionally Gradient Polystyrene-Polylactide Bottlebrush Copolymers”, Macromolecules 2019, 52 (21), 8217. DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.9b01756
• Pastore, V. J.; Cook, T. R.*; Rzayev, J.* “Polymer-MOF Hybrid Composites with High Porosity and Stability through Surface-Selective Ligand Exchange”, Chem. Mater. 2018, 30 (23), 8639. DOI: 10.1021/acs.chemmater.8b03881
  
• Altay, E.; Nykypanchuk, D.; Rzayev, J. “Mesoporous Polymer Frameworks from End-Reactive Bottlebrush Copolymers”, ACS Nano 2017, in press. DOI:10.1021/acsnano.7b03214
• Unsal, H.; Onbulak, S.; Calik, F.; Er-Rafik, M.; Schmutz, M.; Sanyal, A.; Rzayev, J. “Interplay between Molecular Packing, Core Cross-linking, and Drug Loading in Bottlebrush Copolymer Micelles”, Macromolecules 2017, 50, 1342. DOI:10.1021/acs.macromol.6b02182
• Mapas, J. K. D.; Thomay, T.; Cartwright, A. N.; Ilavsky, J.; Rzayev, J. “Ultrahigh Molecular Weight Linear Block Copolymers: Rapid Access by Reversible-Deactivation Radical Polymerization and Self-Assembly into Large Domain Nanostructures”, Macromolecules 2016, 49, 3733. DOI:10.1021/acs.macromol.6b00863
• Onbulak, S.; Rzayev, J. “Cylindrical Nanocapsules from Photo-Cross-Linkable Core-Shell Bottlebrush Copolymers”, Polym. Chem. 2015, 6, 764. DOI:10.1039/c4py01215a
• Fenyves, R.; Schmutz, M.; Horner, I. J.; Bright, F. V.; Rzayev, J. “Aqueous Self-Assembly of Giant Bottlebrush Block Copolymer Surfactants as Shape-Tunable Building Blocks”, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2014, 136, 7762-7770. DOI:10.1021/ja503283r
• Rzayev, J. “Molecular Bottlebrushes: New Opportunities in Nanomaterials Fabrication”, ACS Macro Lett. 2012, 1, 1146 (Viewpoint article). DOI:10.1021/mz300402x