Radical Routes to New Copolymeric Materials

两种新型聚合物将在首席研究员的实验室中合成和表征，它们的一些性质将在合作者的实验室中进行更深入的测定。成千上万的聚合物胶体(也称为胶乳)将通过亲水和疏水单体的乳液共聚来平行合成，以寻找具有新形态的共聚物。视觉测试将被用来确定哪些乳胶形成乳浊膜，哪些将像聚合物共混物那样分离成相。乳液聚合形成的共聚物用于制造合成橡胶乳液和涂料已有50多年的历史，它可能为目前用于稳定聚合物共混物的嵌段共聚物提供一种低成本的替代方案。研究了甲基丙烯酸羟乙酯胶乳胶晶转变为多孔聚合物网络的化学和物理基础。聚合物网络将作为聚合物和胶体的分离介质、催化剂的固体载体和制备光子带隙材料的模板进行探索。这些材料的光学性质将与教授合作进行研究。俄克拉荷马州立大学(OSU)物理系的艾克森和童。将合成模型聚两性聚合物，以测试其在水溶液中的结构和性能的当前理论。聚两性离子是一种合成的蛋白质类似物，在单一的聚合物链中含有(+)和(-)带电单元。它们将通过未带电单体的活性自由基聚合，然后进行官能团转换来生成带电单元。聚合物的组成、结构和相对分子质量将在俄亥俄州立大学确定。该模型将提供给宾夕法尼亚州立大学的科尔比教授，用于测量水溶液的粘度、聚合物链上的电荷和介电响应，并将这些结果与北卡罗来纳大学的鲁宾斯坦教授的新理论进行比较。%这项研究涉及纳米科学、生物相关聚合物和组合化学的一般领域。通过这项研究获得研究生学位的学生将在首席研究员的实验室获得聚合物合成和表征方面的经验，以及宾夕法尼亚州立大学聚合物溶液的性质或俄亥俄州立大学物理学中胶体材料的光学性质的经验。除了满足化学学位要求外，研究生(和博士后学者)还将参加俄克拉荷马纳米结构材料网络(NanoNet)的跨学科研讨会和短期课程，NanoNet是俄克拉何马州立大学、俄克拉何马大学和塔尔萨大学新成立的化学、物理、化学工程和电气工程教员小组。广阔的科学基础将使他们为工业研发或大学教学做好准备。

Two new types polymers will be synthesized and characterized in the laboratory of the principal investigator, and some of their properties will be determined in greater depth in the laboratories of collaborators. Thousands of polymer colloids (also known as latexes) will be synthesized in parallel by emulsion copolymerization of hydrophilic and hydrophobic monomers in search of copolymers that exhibit new morphologies. Visual tests will be used to determine which latexes form opalescent films, and which will separate into phases like those of polymer blends. Copolymers formed by emulsion polymerization, which has been used for the manufacture synthetic rubber latex and coatings for more than fifty years, may provide a low cost alternative to block copolymers that are used now to stabilize polymer blends. The chemical and physical bases for the transformation of colloidal crystals of a styrene-hydroxyethyl methacrylate latex to porous polymer nets will investigated. The polymer nets will be explored as separation media for polymers and colloids, as solid supports for catalysts, and as templates for preparation of photonic bandgap materials. Optical properties of the materials will be studied in collaboration with Profs. Ackerson and Tong in the Oklahoma State University (OSU) Department of Physics. Model polymampholytes will be synthesized to enable testing of current theory of their structures and properties in aqueous solutions. Polyampholytes are synthetic synthetic analogues of proteins that contain (+) and (-) charged units in a single polymer chain. They will be prepared by living radical polymerization of uncharged monomers followed by functional group transformations to create the charged units. The compositions, structures, and molecular weights of the polymers will be determined at OSU. The model polyampholytes will be provided to Prof. Colby of Pennsylvania State University for measurements of viscosity of aqueous solutions, electrical charge on the polymer chains, and dielectric response, and those results will be compared with new theories of polyampholytes by Prof. Rubinstein of the University of North Carolina.%%%This research is in the general areas of nanoscience, bio-related polymers, and combinational chemistry. Students earning graduate degrees from this research will gain experience at polymer synthesis and characterization in the laboratory of the principal investigator, and in properties of polymer solutions at Penn State or optical properties of colloidal materials in physics at OSU. In addition to meeting degree requirements in chemistry, the graduate students (and the postdoctoral scholar) will participate in the interdisciplinary workshops and short courses of the Oklahoma Network for Nanostructured materials (NanoNet), a newly formed group of faculty in chemistry, physics, chemical engineering, and electrical engineering at OSU, the University of Oklahoma, and the University of Tulsa. The broad scientific base will prepare them for industrial research and development or university teaching.