Dr. Beckham’s expertise includes polymers and textiles, in particular the organic and physical chemistry of these materials as it relates to their bulk physical properties. For over 20 years, he has trained, taught, and conducted research in textile chemistry, dyeing and finishing, organic and physical polymer chemistry, polymer synthesis and characterization, and moisture migration in materials. He is experienced in materials development, characterization and testing of thermosets, membranes, barrier plastics, coatings, foams, carpets, fibers, yarns, fabrics, nonwovens, diapers and other absorbent materials, hydrogels, nanocomposites, and nanotubes.
Dr. Beckham has authored book chapters and articles on the characterization of moisture in absorbent materials, and on the effect of polymer chain structure on bulk material properties. He has developed improved tests for wicking in textile fabrics and new reactive dyes and finishes with enhanced exhaustion at significantly lower salt additions, evaluated clay dispersion in polymer/clay nanocomposites, characterized polymer structure and microstructure using solid-state and liquid-state NMR, characterized fluid distribution and movement in absorbent materials using MRI, monitored wetting and drying in carpets and textiles, developed new materials for foul-resistant marine coatings, analyzed binding to cyclodextrins, and quantified leaching of additives into and out of fibers and films. Dr. Beckham has an academic appointment in Materials Science and Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology where he teaches and serves as an academic advisor to graduate and undergraduate students. His current research interests include evaluation of polymers, adhesives and coatings, fibers, textiles, dyes, pigments and finishes for root cause and failure analysis, patent litigation support, product development and design support related to performance apparel, industrial textiles, recreational and sports materials.
Simile C, Beckham HW. Permeability-saturation-capillary pressure relations in textile fabrics from an integrated upward-horizontal-downward wicking test. Journal of the Textile Institute 2012, in press.
Foston M, Hubbell C, Park D-Y, Cook F, Tezuka Y, Beckham HW. Surface modification by electrostatic self-assembly followed by covalent fixation. Angewandte Chemie 2012; 51:1849–1852.
Bernardo G, Choudhury RP, Beckham HW. Diffusivity of small molecules in polymers: Carboxylic acids in polystyrene. Polymer 2012; 53:976–983.
Lee JS, Leisen J, Choudhury RP, Kriegel R, Beckham HW, Koros WJ. Antiplasticization-based enhancement of poly(ethylene terephthalate) barrier properties. Polymer 2012; 53:213–222.
Owens T, Leisen J, Beckham HW, Breedveld V. Control of microfluidic flow in amphiphilic fabrics. ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces 2011; 3(11):3796–3803.
Xu B, Leisen J, Beckham HW, Abu-Zurayk R, Harkin-Jones E, McNally T. Evolution of clay morphology in polypropylene/montmorillonite nanocomposites upon equi-biaxial stretching: A solid-state NMR and TEM approach. Macromolecules 2009; 42(22):8959–8968.
Hubbell CA, Beckham HW, Cook FL. Reactive-ionic dyeing of films and fibers via ionic assembly and covalent fixation. AATCC Review 2009; 9(5):43–47.
Leisen J, Schauss G, Stanley C, Beckham HW. Magnetic resonance imaging applications in textile and fiber engineering: fabrics and diapers. AATCC Review 2008; 8(5):32–36.
Leisen J, Sharaf MA, Beckham HW. Evolution of crystallinity, chain mobility and crystallite size during polymer crystallization. Macromolecules 2004; 37(21):8028–8034.
Singla S, Zhao T, Beckham HW. Purification of cyclic polymers prepared from linear precursors by inclusion complexation of linear byproducts with cyclodextrins. Macromolecules 2003; 36(18):6945–6948.
Leisen J, Hojjatie B, Coffin DW, Lavrykov SA, Ramarao BV, Beckham HW. Through-plane diffusion of moisture in paper detected by magnetic resonance imaging. Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Research 2002; 41(25):6555–6565.
Rezac ME, Sorenson ET, Beckham HW. Transport properties of crosslinkable polyimide blends. Journal of Membrane Science 1997; 136:249–259.
Leisen J, Beckham HW. Quantitative comparison of wicking in performance fabrics. Proceedings of the Annual International Conference & Exhibition of AATCC, 2010.
Beckham HW. Should high-tech fabrics require high-tech labeling? Proceedings, Annual International Conference & Exhibition of AATCC, pp. 252–254, 2006.
Book Contributions
Leisen J, Beckham HW. Fluid Distribution and Movement in Engineered Fibrous Substrates by Magnetic Resonance Microscopy. In: Magnetic Resonance Microscopy: Spatially Resolved NMR Techniques and Applications. Codd S, Seymour J (eds), Weinheim: Wiley-VCH, pp 399–419, 2009.
Beckham HW. Ring Polymers: Effective Isolation and Unique Properties. In: Complex Macromolecular Architectures: Synthesis, Characterization, and Self-Assembly. Hadjichristidis N, Tezuka Y, Hirao A, Du Prez F (eds), John Wiley and Sons, pp 791–821, 2011.
Selected Invited Presentations
Beckham HW. Polymer nanocomposites: Nanoparticle dispersion by solid-state NMR and materials for quantum computing. Sandia National Lab, Albuquerque, NM, September 15, 2011.
Beckham HW. Material structure, dynamics and morphology by magnetic resonance. Ciba Vision, Johns Creek, GA, September 9, 2011.
Beckham HW. Where's the water? MRI applications in materials science and engineering. Samuel Ginn MRI Seminar Series, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, March 11, 2010.
Beckham HW. NMR studies of cyclic and threaded macromolecules. Tokyo Institute of Technology, Tokyo, Japan, November 17, 2006.
Beckham HW. MRI applications in textile and fiber science. Invitations as Fiber Society Lecturer: Malden Mills, Lawrence, MA, February 15, 2006; Nano-Tex, Emeryville, CA, March 6, 2006; University of California, Davis, March 8, 2006; Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, April 6, 2006.
Beckham HW. Wicking of fluids in fibrous substrates. Invitations as Fiber Society Lecturer: University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth, February 16, 2006; University of California, Davis, March 8, 2006.
Beckham HW. NMR characterization of pore structure and moisture movement in technical textiles and nonwovens. Techtextil North America, Atlanta, GA, April 9, 2002.
Beckham HW. Fundamentals of moisture transport in textiles. Techtextil North America, Atlanta, GA, March 23, 2000.
Beckham HW. Crosslinkable polyimides via oxidative coupling polymerization of diethynyl diimides. Department of Chemistry, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, April 8, 1999.
Beckham HW. Nuclear magnetic resonance in engineering research: Applications, instruments, and laboratory development. Department of Chemical Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore, August 27, 1998.