Advanced functional polymetric materials: fundamentals to applications

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One problem facing many industries is the cost incurred from the failure of machinery as a result of inadequate lubrication between moving parts. The structure/morphology of the molecules, e.g. polymers, at the interface between surfaces often dictates the strength of the interactions, directly influencing adhesion and friction. By gaining a fundamental understanding of the conformational changes a polymer experiences when between two surfaces (confined); new, improved materials can be tailor made to minimize harmful surface interactions. This understanding can also be used to improve the performance of other materials that have polymers packed in close proximity to one another. For example, polymeric materials for filtration and chromatography, polymer valves in microfluidic devices, and polymeric drug delivery vehicles. One of our research focuses is on understanding the interfacial behavior of polymers, as a function of confinement. This work will be accomplished using a novel surface plasmon resonance spectrometer (SPR) built specially for studying these systems. The new SPR will allow such materials to be studied on levels never before possible, with unsurpassed accuracy and precision.