Dr Mike Jenkins

School of Metallurgy and Materials
Associate Professor

Contact details

Telephone: (+44) (0) 121 414 2841
Fax: (+44) (0) 121 414 7468
Email: m.j.jenkins@bham.ac.uk

Address: School of Metallurgy and Materials
University of Birmingham
Edgbaston
Birmingham
B15 2TT
UK

Dr. Mike Jenkins is an Associate Professor in the School of Metallurgy and Materials at the University of Birmingham. He is a research active polymer scientist and thermal analyst with over 20 years of professional experience in these fields, he also leads the polymer characterization and thermal analysis research group.

To date, he has authored over 60 refereed journal papers in the area of polymer science. He has edited three books and has been lead supervisor on over 20 PhD and 30 MRes students. He is also co-author on the fourth edition of “Plastics: microstructure and engineering applications”.

Mike has been principal investigator on EU and industrially funded projects worth over £2.7m. Active primarily at the academic-industry interface, Mike has worked with large companies including JLR, QinetiQ, Cytec, Rolls-Royce plc, GSK, Airbus, GKN, Victrex, JCB and TENCATE coupled with collaboration or consultancy with over 80 national and European SMEs.

Mike is also a part of the Birmingham Plastics Network, an interdisciplinary team of more than 40 academics working together to shape the fate and sustainable future of plastics. This unique team brings together chemists, environmental scientists, engineers, philosophers, linguists, economists, artists, writers, lawyers, and experts in many other fields, to holistically address the global plastics problem.

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Qualifications

PhD in Metallurgy and Materials, 1997
BSc in Chemistry, Birmingham, 1992

Teaching

Mike delivers lecture courses in polymer science across all four years of the University of Birmingham MEng Materials Engineering undergraduate degree programme. He also delivers post-graduate courses in the areas of polymer science and thermal analysis.

In 2004, he was awarded a Postgraduate certificate in teaching and learning in higher education; teaching related outputs include books, book chapters & conference papers. Mike also has a long-standing interest in the public understanding of science/outreach and has contributed to materials science exhibitions/activities at the Science Museum, the Royal Armories and England Squash.

Current teaching:

LC Non-crystalline Materials I (polymer synthesis, processing, properties and characterisation)
LI Fracture, Fatigue and Degradation (polymer degradation)
LH Advanced Materials in Sport
LM Advanced Polymer Systems

Research

Activity mainly concerns the relationship between chemical structure, processing, microstructure and the physical properties of thermoplastic polymers, and furthermore, how the properties can be influenced by each of these aspects. Beyond the characterization of the primary crystallization process and resulting microstructure in numerous polymers, blends and thermoplastic composites, a significant theme is the analysis of the kinetics and mechanism of the secondary crystallization process using a hybrid technique combining infra-red spectroscopy and differential thermal analysis (FTIR-DTA).

The application of advanced thermal analysis has continued through the use of ultra-fast scanning chip-calorimetry (FLASH DSC). This technique has allows the elimination of the microstructural re-organisation processes that occur on heating in partially crystalline polymers and thereby provide an understanding of the effect of polymer processing without the instrumental artefacts associated with conventional thermal analysis. Other highlights include a broad and systematic evaluation of the use of CO₂ in the processing of thermoplastic polymers; the promotion of miscibility, rheological properties (a reduction in chain reptation time), foaming and melting point depression have all be explored.

The effect of chemical structure on the physical properties of polymers and polymer blends
The study of crystallisation and melting in biopolymers
Dynamic mechanical and thermal analysis of polymers
Glass formation and enthalpic relaxation in polymeric materials

Other activities

Polymer Theme Lead on AMCASH
Editorial Board Member, Polymers (ISSN 2073-4360)

Publications

Recent publications

Article

Sanders, B, North, M, Cant, E & Jenkins, M 2025, 'Investigating secondary crystallisation of polyamide-12 using fast scanning calorimetry', Thermochimica Acta, vol. 745, 179948. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tca.2025.179948

Jenkins, M, Che, C, Dashtbozorg, B & Dong, H 2024, 'Enhancing the Bond Strength Between Glass Fibre Reinforced Polyamide 6 and Aluminium through µPlasma Surface Modification.', Applied Surface Science, vol. 657, 159734. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4591488, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apsusc.2024.159734

Sanders, B, Cant, E & Jenkins, M 2024, 'Re-use of polyamide-12 in powder bed fusion and its effect on process-relevant powder characteristics and final part properties', Additive Manufacturing, vol. 80, 103961. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addma.2024.103961

Che, C, Dashtbozorg, B, Qi, S, North, MJ, Li, X, Dong, H & Jenkins, M 2024, 'The Ageing of μPlasma Modified Polymers: the Role of Hydrophilicity', Materials, vol. 17, no. 6, 1402. https://doi.org/10.3390/ma17061402

Sanders, B, Cant, E, Kelly, CA & Jenkins, M 2024, 'The effect of powder re-use on the coalescence behaviour and isothermal crystallisation kinetics of polyamide 12 within powder bed fusion', Polymers, vol. 16, no. 5, 612. https://doi.org/10.3390/polym16050612

Carter, JL, Kelly, CA, Marshall, JE & Jenkins, MJ 2023, 'Effect of Thickness on the Electrical Properties of PEDOT:PSS/Tween 80 Films', Polymer Journal. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41428-023-00854-w

Carter, J, Kelly, C & Jenkins, M 2023, 'Enhanced adhesion of PEDOT:PSS to substrates using polydopamine as a primer', Polymer Journal. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41428-023-00846-w

Kelly, C & Jenkins, M 2022, 'Modeling the crystallization kinetics of polymers displaying high levels of secondary crystallization', Polymer Journal, vol. 54, no. 3, pp. 249–257. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41428-021-00581-0

Carter, J, Kelly, C, Marshall, JE, Hammond, V, Goodship, V & Jenkins, M 2022, 'PEDOT:PSS conductivity enhancement through addition of the surfactant Tween 80', Polymers, vol. 14, no. 23, 5072. https://doi.org/10.3390/polym14235072

Carter, J, Kelly, C & Jenkins, M 2022, 'Processing optimisation of PEDOT:PSS and PEDOT:PSS/Tween 80 films', Polymer Journal. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41428-022-00740-x

Sanders, B, Cant, E, Amel, H & Jenkins, M 2022, 'The effect of physical aging and degradation on the re-use of Polyamide 12 in powder bed fusion', Polymers, vol. 14, no. 13, 2682. https://doi.org/10.3390/polym14132682

Che, C, Dashtbozorg, B, Li, X, Dong, H & Jenkins, M 2021, 'Effect of μPlasma Modification on the Wettability and the Ageing Behaviour of Glass Fibre Reinforced Polyamide 6 (GFPA6)', Materials, vol. 14, no. 24, 7721. https://doi.org/10.3390/ma14247721

Jenkins, M, Kelly, C & Marsh, SH 2021, 'Rheological analysis of heat labile poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate):poly(ethylene glycol) blends', Materials Today Communications, vol. 29, 102787. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mtcomm.2021.102787

Review article

North, MJ & Jenkins, MJ 2025, 'The mechanisms of the secondary crystallisation process in polymers: a narrative review', Polymer. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polymer.2025.128122

Dickinson-Lomas, A, Keith, M, Brown, D & Jenkins, M 2025, 'The Removal of Epoxy Resins from NdFeB Magnets for Recycling – A Review', Resources, Conservation and Recycling, vol. 215, 108113. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2024.108113

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