Grant was born in Tucker, Georgia, and grew up in Grayson, a small suburb of Atlanta. After graduating from Grayson High School in May 2008, he began his undergraduate education at the Georgia Institute of Technology. He then graduated with a bachelor’s degree in chemical and biomolecular engineering with highest honors in May 2011. He is currently enrolled at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, in the Chemical and Biological Engineering Department working towards his master’s degree.
Outside of academia, Grant’s hobbies include tennis, racquetball, and powerlifting.
Block copolymers are macromolecules made of two or more homopolymer blocks of chemically distinct monomer species connected together by covalent bonds. The enthalpic block-block interactions coupled with the conformational entropy of the macromolecule chain causes microphase separation into well-ordered morphologies. Grant's research is focused on developing simulation models to elucidate the physics of these polymeric systems in bulk and thin films.
The equilibrium morphological behavior of monodisperse block copolymers has been well studied. Large synthesis costs are associated with producing such monodisperse polymer blends, and some monomer species are not suited for such synthesis control. Therefore, using polydisperse materials could cut down synthesis costs as well as give rise to the study of new monomer combinations that have been ignored in the past. It is his goal to understand how polydispersity affects the microphase behavior of block copolymers in bulk and in chemically patterned thin films.
In addition, it is of great interest to his group to understand how to inverse engineer morphological features in thin films for lithographic applications. It is their goal to use optimization methods and molecular simulation methods to design polymer blends and surface patterns necessary to achieve pre-designed complex morphologies.
Mechanisms of directed self-assembly in cylindrical hole confinements
Bezik, Cody T., Grant P. Garner, and Juan J. de Pablo. "Mechanisms of directed self-assembly in cylindrical hole confinements." Macromolecules 51.7 (2018): 2418-2427.
Design of surface patterns with optimized thermodynamic driving forces for the directed self-assembly of block copolymers in lithographic applications
Garner, Grant P., et al. "Design of surface patterns with optimized thermodynamic driving forces for the directed self-assembly of block copolymers in lithographic applications." Molecular Systems Design & Engineering 2.5 (2017): 567-580.
The effects of geometry and chemistry of nanopatterned substrates on the directed self-assembly of block-copolymer melts
Garner, Grant, et al. "The effects of geometry and chemistry of nanopatterned substrates on the directed self-assembly of block-copolymer melts." Alternative Lithographic Technologies VII. Vol. 9423. International Society for Optics and Photonics, 2015.
Evolutionary Optimization of Directed Self-Assembly of Triblock Copolymers on Chemically Patterned Substrates
G.S. Khaira, J. Qin, G. P. Grant, S. Xiong, L. Wan, R. Ruiz, H. M. Jaeger, P. F. Nealey, and J. J. de Pablo. Evolutionary Optimization of DSA of Triblock Copolymers. ACS Macro Letters. 2014. Vol. 3, Pg. 747-752.
Evolutionary pattern design for copolymer directed self-assembly
Jian Qin, Gurdaman S. Khaira, Yongrui Su, Grant P. Garner, Marc Miskin, Heinrich M. Jaeger, and Juan J. de Pablo . Evolutionary pattern design for copolymer directed self-assembly. Soft Matter. 2013. Vol. 9, Pg. 11467-11472.