About

Professor Daniel Vincent Krogstad leads a research group within The Grainger College of Engineering at the University of Illinois, focusing on polymer and soft materials research. His work is inspired by the study of natural materials, which consistently demonstrate exceptional combinations of properties arising from the multi-scale assembly of their components. These structures are typically formed through a cascade of assembly mechanisms, and his research aims to leverage these fundamental concepts to design and develop new and improved polymers and soft materials. The group specifically concentrates on understanding non-covalent interactions, dynamics, and kinetics in organic systems to predictably design and develop hierarchically structured materials through self-assembly and non-equilibrium processing. The research group has particular strength in the characterization of polymers and soft materials, including in situ characterization during processing. Recently, their research has been transitioning toward the use of high-throughput experimentation and adaptive experimental design. This approach helps navigate the complex phase spaces that arise from the co-design of both materials and processes, enabling more efficient and targeted development of advanced materials. Professor Krogstad's work is situated within the Materials Science and Engineering department and is connected to the Materials Research Laboratory and the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology at the University of Illinois.

Research topics

• Chemistry
• Chemical engineering
• Materials science
• Composite material
• Organic chemistry
• Optics
• Metallurgy
• Polymer chemistry
• Nanotechnology
• Inorganic chemistry
• Environmental chemistry

Selected publications

• Processing and modifications of chitin-glucan complex in ionic liquids: a tool to prepare medicinal material

  SSRN Electronic Journal · 2026-01-01

  preprintOpen access
  PublisherDOI

• Influence of Pentanoic Acid and Dissolved Iron-Species in White Oil on the Corrosion Mechanism of Carbon Steel

  SSRN Electronic Journal · 2025-01-01

  preprintOpen accessSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Conversion Treatment of Carbon Steel Using an Atmospheric Plasma-Based Process

  CORROSION · 2025-05-06

  articleSenior author

  An atmospheric-pressure, microwave-powered plasma process was used for surface cleaning and fabrication of Zr, Si, and Zr/Si-based bilayer conversion coatings on mild steel for corrosion protection. Si-based films were fabricated from a volatile organometallic precursor in the gas phase, and Zr-based films were produced by converting a solution-based precursor film. The fabricated coatings were characterized in terms of their morphology and composition, and their corrosion properties. Based on the results of electrochemical and corrosion weathering experiments, both Zr- and Si-based conversion coatings resulted in a significant decrease in the corrosion rate of the steel substrate. At the same time, the bilayer Zr/Si sample presented little improvement due to the presence of defects. Polarization measurements revealed that anodic inhibition was the main mechanism for corrosion protection in both Zr- and Si-based conversion coatings. The performance of the conversion coatings was further studied in an epoxy-polyamide paint system using the accelerated cyclic electrochemical technique, as well as salt fog corrosion testing. The results implied that both plasma cleaning of the surface (without any conversion film) and the presence of Zr-based conversion coating increased the low-frequency impedance of the system. However, in the presence of defects in the paint, the anodic inhibition by the Zr-based conversion layers played a key role in increasing the protectiveness and performance of the paint. The results of this study indicate that atmospheric-pressure plasmas can be a promising processing technology to fabricate conversion coatings on mild steel, minimizing chemical waste generated by solvent-based methods.

  PublisherDOI

• The effect of pre-shear protocols on the rheological characterization of epoxy nanocomposites

  Rheologica Acta · 2025-08-08

  articleOpen accessSenior authorCorresponding

  Abstract Nanostructured epoxy composite resins have broad usage in adhesives, coatings, composites, and 3D printing. With these materials, careful control of the rheological properties is critical to ensuring that the properties meet their required performance targets. However, it can be difficult to accurately measure the rheological properties. In this work, we establish a method to develop a reliable pre-shear (PS) procedure to repeatably measure the apparent yield stress of the resins, which is critical to ensure the accurate understanding of the material behavior. The resins in this study consisted of an epoxy resin with nanoclay as a shear thinning agent, ionic liquid (1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium dicyanamide) as a latent curing agent, and poly(ethylene oxide- b -propylene oxide- b -ethylene oxide) block copolymer (BCP) as a nanostructured component. We establish a methodology to evaluate the effectiveness of a pre-shear protocol and evaluate several methods to identify a pre-shear procedure that resulted in repeatable transient creep results on a rheometer. We identified that large amplitude oscillatory shear was the most effective method for these materials, and the optimal magnitude of the shear was dependent on the composition of the epoxy resins. Through the consistent application of this approach, we were able to use transient creep testing to identify the phase boundaries in the epoxy/BCP resins when the BCP micelles undergo an order-order transition from spherical to hexagonal micelles through changes in the yield stress of the material. This work adds to the new growing body of literature demonstrating the importance of establishing rigorous pre-shear conditions to improve the accuracy of structured yield stress fluids.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Zirconia-based coatings on mild steel fabricated by atmospheric-pressure plasma processing for corrosion protection

  Thin Solid Films · 2025-02-14 · 1 citations

  articleOpen access

  • Developed a process to fabricate green zirconia-based coatings on steel. • Leveraged an atmospheric-pressure, microwave-powered plasma to reduce waste. • Correlated process conditions to the properties of the zirconia-based coatings. • Demonstrated six-fold improvement in the corrosion rate compared to a blank test. • Demonstrated a possible environmentally-friendly alternative to hexavalent chromium. Corrosion mitigation of steel by coatings produced from benign and environmentally-friendly alternatives to the toxic and carcinogenic hexavalent chromium systems remains a critical challenge. Here, we demonstrate that zirconia-based coatings can be produced by initially depositing a film from a precursor solution, and subsequently converted to a functional coating using an atmospheric-pressure microwave-powered plasma. The effects of processing parameters including microwave power, precursor concentration, pass spacing, and repetitions were studied by characterizing the morphology and chemical composition of the fabricated coatings using scanning electron microscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, respectively. Results show that changing the processing conditions has a complex effect on aspects of the coating including defects and degree of precursor conversion. From our parametric study, we found that the coatings could be optimized by multiple treatment repetitions, small pass spacing, lower precursor concentration in the solution, and higher plasma power. The ability of the coatings to prevent corrosion was assessed by linear polarization resistance measurements. We find six-fold decrease in the corrosion rate compared to a blank test, indicating that our approach is a promising candidate for the creation of corrosion-protective conversion coatings on steel that minimizes the use of harmful chemicals and chemical waste.

  PublisherDOI

• Effect of the initial iron concentration in oil on the corrosion mechanism of pentanoic acid on carbon steel

  2025-03-10

  preprint1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Critical influence of chemical pretreatments on the deposition and effectiveness of Zr-based conversion coating on AA2024-T3 aluminum alloy

  Applied Surface Science · 2025-03-18 · 10 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  • Deposition of ZrCCs on AA2024-T3 is pH-driven and initiates on Cu-rich intermetallics. • Localized corrosion around intermetallics can compromise properties of ZrCC. • Alkaline etching removes larger intermetallics and increases the deposition rate. • HNO 3 desmutting causes trenching around S-Al 2 CuMg which continues during deposition. The critical role of chemical pretreatments on the deposition and effectiveness of Zr-based conversion coatings to protect high strength aluminum alloy is presented. Several pretreatments were tested, including mechanical grinding, alkaline etching, acid desmutting, and combinations therein. Zr-based conversion coatings were deposited on aluminum (AA2024-T3) from a solution of 0.01 M Zr 4+ . The corrosion behavior of the pre-treated and coated alloys was examined using potentiodynamic polarization in sodium chloride solution. The results showed that acid desmutting in nitric acid can cause localized corrosion in the form of selective magnesium dealloying and alkaline trenching around the S-Al 2 CuMg particles that continued during deposition and can compromise the corrosion protection. Alkaline etching in a sodium hydroxide solution removed some of the larger intermetallic particles and increased the deposition rate but resulted in a cracked coating with inadequate adhesion. Desmutting in weak acid did not cause any trenching during the pretreatment and deposition. However, uneven and cracked deposition of the coating on intermetallic particles compromised the corrosion protection. These results show the benefits and limitations of common pretreatments which can lead to the development of improved pretreatment procedures and corrosion protection.

  PublisherDOI

• Nanoscopic Imaging of Biogenic Feedstock-Induced Corrosion in Model Petroleum Infrastructure

  ACS Nano · 2025-07-28 · 1 citations

  article

  Biofeedstocks derived from living organisms or their byproducts have recently emerged as an environmentally benign complement to petroleum, diversifying energy production in the petroleum industry from sole dependence on crude oil while utilizing mostly existing petroleum infrastructure. However, biofeedstocks also bring challenges as they can cause distinct and potentially more severe corrosion in metal-based petroleum infrastructure than crude oils due to their higher molecular oxygen content and the presence of various organic acids. To effectively manage such corrosion, it is crucial to understand the corrosion mechanism, particularly the onset of local corrosion, as well as its relationship with the metallic microstructure. Here, using pentanoic acid─a typical degradation product and representative corrosion contributor from biofeedstocks─as the corrosive medium, we capture the real-time initiation and progression in corrosion of carbon steel lamella, which is a model petroleum infrastructure, at nanometer resolution. We correlate in situ liquid-phase transmission electron microscopy imaging of the corrosion process with ex situ characterization of grain size, orientation, and elemental distribution. Through this correlative, multimodal characterization, we identify the key microstructural features that significantly influence corrosion behavior: galvanic corrosion initiates corrosion, strain accelerates corrosion, and lattice orientation guides corrosion propagation. Contrary to aqueous corrosion, corrosion in pentanoic acid is not heavily influenced by the grain boundaries, with similar rates observed in coarse- and fine-grain lamellae. Our observations highlight the importance of intrinsic structural features of carbon steel and their impact on corrosion in biofeedstock-based organic acids, providing insights for potential corrosion mitigation.

  PublisherDOI

• Zirconia-Based Coatings on Mild Steel Fabricated by Atmospheric-Pressure Plasma Processing for Corrosion Protection

  SSRN Electronic Journal · 2024-01-01

  preprintOpen access
  PublisherDOI

• Impact of water and oleic acid on glycerol monooleate phase transition and bi-continuous structure formation in white oil

  Soft Matter · 2024-01-01 · 1 citations

  articleSenior authorCorresponding

  Production of biofuels from biological feedstocks, such as soybean oil, is an important piece of the transition to renewable energy sources. Processes have been developed to co-refine these feedstocks with traditional feedstocks, however, the high concentration of polar functional groups in biofeedstocks can cause a wide range of intermediate chemical reactions and interactions. An improved understanding of the interactions of biofeedstocks and their degradation products is needed to continue to expand the usage of biofeedstocks in fuel production. In this study, the equilibrium structures of glycerol monooleate (GMO), a common intermediate product of biofeedstock processing, in white mineral oil at a wide range of compositions, temperatures, and additional byproduct concentrations (water and/or oleic acid) were characterized using small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS). It was determined that GMO can exist as crystalline aggregates in white oil or as reverse micelles depending on the concentration and temperature. The critical micelle temperature increases significantly with increasing GMO concentration but remains relatively stable with increasing water or fatty acid concentration. Fitting of the SAXS data revealed that for many compositions, the GMO formed roughly spherical reverse micelles, however, at high water concentrations (∼1 wt%), the GMO formed elongated reverse micelles. Additionally, when >1 wt% oleic acid was added to the system, bi-continuous structures were stabilized rather than discreet reverse micelles. These results help increase our understanding of the structural behavior of biofeedstock intermediate products at concentrations and temperatures relevant to biofuel production and can enable processers to design systems and products that can either leverage or prevent these interactions for improved processing performance.

  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Matthew Tirrell

  Argonne National Laboratory

  26 shared

• Craig J. Hawker

  University of California, Santa Barbara

  21 shared

• Nathaniel A. Lynd

  The University of Texas at Austin

  20 shared

• Edward J. Krämer

  18 shared

• Debra J. Audus

  National Institute of Standards and Technology

  15 shared

• Jeffrey D. Gopez

  University of California, Santa Barbara

  14 shared

• Glenn H. Fredrickson

  University of California, Santa Barbara

  10 shared

• Dimitris Missirlis

  Max Planck Institute for Medical Research

  8 shared

Awards & honors

• Materials Research Society Fellowships and Awards
• Alumni Distinguished Merit Awards
• Alumni Young Alum Award Winners