Education
- PhD in Polymer Physics, Institute for Macromolecular Chemistry, Academy of Sciences, Kiev, Ukraine
Description of Research
Dr. Melnichenko is a member of the SANS team which designed, constructed, and commissioned two SANS instruments at ORNL in 2000-2007. He specializes in experimental and theoretical studies of soft matter, including the structure and dynamics of polymer solutions, gels and blends, using SANS and neutron transmission techniques.
In his research program, Dr. Melnichenko carries out small-angle neutron scattering studies of the structure and thermodynamic properties of the following systems: polymer melts and blends; solutions of polymers in organic and supercritical solvents at ambient and elevated pressure; homopolymers, block copolymers, and microemulsions in supercritical fluids; polyelectrolytes, structural transformations in stimuli responsive fullerenes and fullerene derivatives; the influence of small pores on the phase behavior and adsorption properties of the confined sub- and supercritical fluids; and carbon sequestration in natural geological formations.
Dr. Melnichenko was appointed a fellow of the American Physical Society in 2005, for “Significant contribution to the fundamental science underlying universal aspects of macromolecules in polymer solutions, supercritical mixtures and polymer blends.” He is the recipient of an ORNL Significant Achievement Award (2006) for "Design and installation of the two new small-angle neutron scattering instruments at HFIR". He also held a Humboldt Foundation Fellowship in Germany in 1993.
Before coming to ORNL, Dr. Melnichenko was a Visiting Researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research from 1993-95, where he conducted SANS and dielectric spectroscopy studies of the structure and dynamics of confined fluids. From 1985 to 1993 in Kiev he was a Senior Research Scientist at the Institute for Macromolecular Chemistry of the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences.
He has served as the co-organizer of several international conferences, and is a reviewer for Physical Review Letters, Physical Review, Macromolecules, Langmuir, Journal of Chemical Physics, Journal of Physical Chemistry, and the Journal of Polymer Science.
Dr. Melnichenko has published more than 100 research and review articles in peer reviewed journals, has contributed six chapters to books, and has given numerous invited lectures at international conferences and seminars.
Selected Publications
Y. B. Melnichenko and G. D. Wignall, Small-angle neutron scattering in materials science: Recent practical applications, Reviews of J. Appl. Phys. 102 021101 (2007)
G. D. Wignall and Y. B. Melnichenko, Recent applications of small-angle scattering in strongly interacting soft matter, Rep. Progr. Phys. 68 1761 (2005)
Y. B. Melnichenko, G. D. Wignall, and D. Schwahn, Universal aspects of macromolecules in polymer blends, solutions, and supercritical mixtures, Phys. Rev. E 65 061802 (2002)
Y. Melnichenko, G. D. Wignall, and W. A. Van Hook, Molecular-Weight Scaling in Critical Polymer Solutions, Europhysics Lett. 48 372-377 (1999)
Y. B. Melnichenko, M. A. Anisimov, A. Povodyrev, G. D. Wignall, J. S. Sengers and W. A. Van Hook, Sharp Crossover of the Susceptibility in Polymer Solutions, Phys. Rev. Lett. 79 5266 (1997)
Y. B. Melnichenko and G. D. Wignall, Dimensions of Polymer Chains in Critical Semidilute Solutions, Phys. Rev. Lett. 78 686 (1997)
J. Schueller, Y. B. Melnichenko, R. Richert, and E. W. Fischer, Dielectric Studies of Glass Transition in Pores, Phys. Rev. Lett. 73 2224 (1994)
Contact Information
Yuri B. Melnichenko
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
P.O. Box 2008 MS-6393
Oak Ridge, TN 37831-6393
Telephone: 865.576.7746
Fax: 865.574.6268
E-mail: melnichenkoy@ornl.gov |
