Course Offerings: Polymer

Course content Basic definitions: Monomers, polymers, polymerization reactions. Polymer structure, nomenclature. Molecular weight distributions and average molecular weights. Molecular weight measurements: Colligative properties, osmometry, light scattering, viscosity, gel permeation chromatography. Step-growth polymerization. Types of reactions. Reactivity, kinetics. Molecular weight distribution and control, branching and cross-linking. ...

The course will introduce the synthesis and supramolecular chemistry of polymers. Living polymerization techniques for designed synthesis of block copolymers will be discussed first, including anionic and living free radical polymerization. Subsequently, we will discuss the assembling behavior of block copolymers in bulk and solution. This discussion includes how to design nanostructures and the potential applications of them as nanomaterial. Finally, we will learn the current research ...

The course will cover the fluorescence phenomenon, the steady-state and time-resolved fluorometers, the solvent effects on dyes, fluorescence quenching, fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET), fluorescence anisotropy, analysis of fluorescence decays, and as special topics, some applications of fluorescence based in part on the amazing photophysical properties of pyrene. If time permits, the course will also expand to confocal fluorescence microscopy and fluorescence correlation ...

Refresher on basic concepts: Homopolymers vs. copolymers, molecular weight distributions and averages, polydispersity, free radical addition polymerization. Emulsion polymerization: Initiators, surfactants and other components. Polymerization rate and molecular weight control. Copolymerization equation, monomer reactivity ratios. Types of behaviors: random, alternating, blocky copolymers. Integrated copolymerization equation. Copolymer microstructure. Multicomponent ...

TBA ...