The award will be presented on Aug. 19, during the 224th Meeting of the American Chemical Society in Boston.
The PMSE Award Committee said El-Aasser is particularly noted for research in the areas of polymer latexes and emulsion polymerization, and said he has pioneered the development of mini-emulsions - stable oil/water emulsions with average droplet diameters of less than 500 nanometers. This work has led to a number of novel technologies, including hybrid latexes prepared by emulsification of a polymer solution in monomer, followed by polymerization in mini-emulsion droplets. The technology has led to the formulation of latexes from natural polymers and encapsulation of inorganic pigments and dyes into polymer particles.