Engineering Research Equipment Grant: Equipment for Macromolecular and Aggregate Research

北卡罗来纳州立大学化学工程系在应用聚合物、胶体和界面科学领域拥有强大的研究计划。为了维持这一计划的势头，并确实提供新的和创新的研究，升级和更换现有设备是必不可少的。该提案要求资金将老化的差示扫描量热仪(DSC)升级为现代的、计算机控制的可扩展单元，该单元能够将测量扩展到高压并适合扩展，以包括其他聚合物和胶体表征工具。为了证明购买这种设备是合理的，描述了三个研究项目。这些项目涉及使用新的DSC仪器来探测(1)典型的平衡有机玻璃琥珀、(2)新型邻苯二甲酸酯聚合物和(3)过渡表面活性剂液晶相的热转变。以邻苯二甲酸酯为基础的聚合物在高压下表现出所谓的吸着剂诱导塑化，因此，作为新的DSC收购的一部分，也需要一个用于执行高压研究的池。有了这种新设备，北卡罗来纳州立大学化学工程专业胶体、聚合物和界面科学的跨学科研究项目在未来几年应该会保持强大和至关重要。

The Department of Chemical Engineering at North Carolina State University has a strong research program in the areas of applied polymer and colloid and interface science. In order to sustain the momentum of this program and indeed provide for new and innovative research, upgrade and replacement of existing equipment is essential. This proposal requests funds to upgrade an aging differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) with a modern, computer-controlled expandable unit capable of extending measurements to high pressure and suitable for expansion to include other polymer and colloid characterization tools. To justify the acquisition of this equipment, three research projects are described. These projects involve the use of the new DSC apparatus for probing thermal transitions in (1) the prototypical equilibrium organic glass amber, (2) novel phthalate-based polymers, and (3) transitional surfactant liquid crystalline phases. The phthalate-based polymers exhibit so-called sorbent-induced plasticization at high pressures and thus a cell for performing high pressure studies is also requested as part of the new DSC acquisition. With this new equipment, the interdisciplinary research program in colloid, polymer, and interface science here in Chemical Engineering at North Carolina State University should remain strong and vital in the years ahead.