Research Summary:

Javier Macossay-Torres received a B.S. in Chemistry from the Universidad Autonoma de Nuevo Leon, Mexico in 1989 and his Ph. D in organic/polymer chemistry from Louisiana State University in 1995. He was postdoctoral fellow at Louisiana State University from 1995-1996 and at Southwest Texas State University from 2000-2001. In 1996 he returned to Mexico where he was Assistant Professor at the Universidad Autonoma de Nuevo Leon, until recently. In 2003 he was appointed Assistant Professor of Chemistry at the University of Texas Pan American.

Current research interest includes the synthesis of water soluble chitosan derivatives obtained from the reaction between chitosan and ethylene oxide, propylene oxide and Quat 188 (a commercial product from Du Pont) and manipulation of their properties applications in cosmetics, food and medicine. Other research area of interest is the development of poly(phenylene sulfide) [PPS] analogous. PPS is a commercial material with applications in the aerospace industry, automotive, coatings, and others. UTPA owns some patents on the treatment of PPS to obtain poly(phenylene sulfoxide) [PPSO], which will be used as a foaming agent in plastics processing. Synthesis of analogous polymers with different substituents in several positions, could afford materials with improved thermal properties, lower friction coefficients, improved solubility among other properties.