Polymeric Materials: The Solid State

Catalog description

Introduction to the fundamental concepts necessary to understand solid state structure and properties of polymer materials. MATSE 542 Polymeric Materials: The Solid State (3) This course will cover concepts important to understanding polymer solids and their physical properties. We will begin with the concept of (partial) crystallinity, and the solid state microstructure of semi-crystalline polymers and copolymers. The fundamentals of crystallization kinetics of polymers will be covered, as will the concept of 'annealing'. Wide-angle x-ray diffraction and small-angle x-ray scattering methods will be discussed in the context of characterization of crystalline polymer structure. A discussion of nanoscale associations in both crystalline and non-crystalline ion-containing polymers will complete the first portion of the course. Several classes on the liquid crystalline state will follow, together with discussion of lyotropic and thermotropic liquid crystalline polymers. The fundamentals of binary and ternary polymer mixtures will come next. Concepts important to both miscible blends (e.g. concentration fluctuations) and immiscible blends (e.g. rubber toughening) will be covered. The origin of the morphology (phase diagrams) and properties of di-, tri- and multblock copolymers will be discussed, as will their role as interfacial agents in multiphase systems. The latter portion of the course will be concerned with electrical and mechanical properties. The former will focus on dielectric relaxation, and conductivity (both electronic and ionic). The latter will focus on the relationship between solid state structure and mechanical (including viscoelastic) properties.