IMR: Development of an X-ray Modified Rheometer for Synchrotron Polymer Research and Education

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The purpose of this project is to develop a unique stress-controlled rheometer to be adapted in the synchrotron scattering facility (e.g. Advanced Polymers Beamline, APB, (X27C) at the National Synchrotron Light Source (NSLS), Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL)) and in combination with Raman spectroscopy at Stony Brook. The modifications of the stress-controlled rheometer, including the installation of x-ray paths, x-ray windows, beam monitoring device, sample monitoring system and translational stages for beam targeting, which will enable in-situ scattering/diffraction studies, and minor modifications for adaptation with the fiber optic Raman Spectrometer at Stony Brook. The proposed instrumentation is the first of its kind for synchrotron research in the world. It will be particularly useful for the polymers and soft materials communities to engage cutting-edge research projects, such as flow-induced phase transitions and hierarchical structural changes in polymer melts, block copolymers, nanocomposites, complex fluids, structured gels and biological systems.%%%The purpose of this project is to develop a unique stress-controlled rheometer to be adapted in the synchrotron scattering facility (e.g. Advanced Polymers Beamline, APB, (X27C) at the National Synchrotron Light Source (NSLS), Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL)) and in combination with Raman spectroscopy at Stony Brook. The X27C beamline was commissioned in 1997 by a group of scientists from Stony Brook University and several industrial and government laboratories. The X27C facility is the first synchrotron beamline in the United States dedicated to chemistry/materials research (with emphasis on polymers). It uses state-of-the-art simultaneous small-angle x-ray scattering (SAXS) and wide-angle x-ray diffraction (WAXD) techniques to characterize structural changes of materials with length scales from 1 to 1000 Angstroms. The major benefit of this facility to the materials community is that no extensive synchrotron experience and equipment preparation are required from general users to carry out cutting-edge experiments. Today, X27C has become a major workhorse serving the U.S. polymer community for time-resolved and in-situ SAXS/WAXD studies. More than 350 users from over 100 user groups (i.e. over 70 research institutes) have carried out experiments at these beamlines in the past six years. Thus, we envision that this unique instrument will not only provide new capability to discover fundamental phenomena in materials, but will also provide new education opportunities to students, scientists and engineers with little x-ray and/or rheological experiences.