Structure and stability of multicomponent polymer mixtures by novel combinatorial approaches

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

The aim of this project is to develop, validate, and demonstrate a methodology for high-throughput mapping of the stability and structural evolution of complex polymer mixtures. Our motivation lies in formulation science which makes ubiquitous use of multicomponent mixtures whose comprehensive characterisation with conventional techniques is unfeasible. The project will involve three major tasks: (i) Creation of multicomponent discrete polymer libraries; (ii) Implementation of optical screening tools (turbidity and scattering) and automated data analysis; and (iii) Undertaking comprehensive experimental studies of two outstanding problems in polymer mixture thermodynamics, namely the effects of model block copolymer and nanoparticles on the phase behaviour and separation dynamics. A dedicated PhD student will work on the project along with the principal investigator; the project duration will be 36 months and the funding requested from EPSRC is 119,990. This proposal is submitted under the First Grant scheme.