Acquisition of Chromatography Equipment for Polymeric Materials Research and Education

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This award from the Instrumentation for Materials Research program will allow the University of Tennessee to purchase instrumentation for chromatographic separation and molecular characterization of polymers and copolymers that are synthesized and/or studied at the University of Tennessee (UT). More specifically, two chromatographs - one capable of operation at elevated temperatures and the other operating at ambient or near ambient temperatures - will be purchased. To optimize the utility of these systems for characterizing complex polymers, such as branched polymers, block and graft copolymers, and polymers with reactive end-groups, the instrument will include a variety of detectors including light scattering, differential viscometer, ultraviolet, and differential refractometer units. To further expand the usefulness of the room temperature chromatograph, columns will be purchased for operating this unit as either a size exclusion chromatograph (SEC) or as a temperature gradient interaction chromatograph (TGIC), as necessary. The acquisition of these instruments will provide UT polymer scientists and engineers with a state-of-the-art facility for measurement of polymer molecular weights, polydispersities, conformational characteristics, and branching. Improved polymer characterization capabilities will favorably impact the research of more than 60 researchers in the UT Chemistry, Materials Science, and Chemical Engineering Departments, including projects such as the correlation of molecular weight distribution to complex rheology, crystallization studies of polymers and copolymers, optimization of interfacial adhesion in polymer blends and composites, effect of biopolymer structure on food chemistry, and new branched polymers as novel elastomers and for testing polymer dilute solution theory. In addition, these instruments will allow us to develop new laboratories for Introduction to Polymer Chemistry, Polymer Physical Chemistry, and Polymeric Materials courses, thus exposing approximately 100 undergraduate and graduate students annually to the use of multi-detector SEC and TGIC for polymer characterization.The acquisition of instrumentation for chromatographic separation and molecular characterization of polymers and copolymers that are synthesized and/or studied at the University of Tennessee. This will provide polymer scientists and engineers with a state-of-the-art facility for measurement of molecular weights, polydispersities, conformational characteristics, and branching of polymers and copolymers. Improved polymer characterization capabilities will favorably impact the research of more than 60 researchers in the UT Chemistry, Materials Science, and Chemical Engineering Departments. In addition, these instruments will allow the PI's to develop new laboratories for Introduction to Polymer Chemistry, Polymer Physical Chemistry, and Polymeric Materials courses, thus exposing approximately 100 undergraduate and graduate students annually to the use of multi-detector Size exclusion chromatography and temperature gradient interaction chromatography for polymer characterization.