IMR: Aquisition of a Stress Rheometer for Polymer Materials Research and Education

这是来自DMR材料研究计划仪器的奖项，授予西北大学。该奖项是为了收购受控应力流变仪，以支持西北大学在聚合物材料和其他复杂流体方面的广泛研究。 拟议的仪器将被安置在一个中央聚合物表征设施，取代能力有限的老化设备。 此外，它将提供全新的能力，控制应力测试（如蠕变/恢复实验），从来没有提供给西北社区，这是由仪器的主要用户正在研究的材料类显着的潜在价值。 除了在研究中的应用外，该仪器还将广泛用于实验室实验和定期安排的聚合物粘弹性和流动课程中的学生项目。该仪器将满足目前正在进行需要广泛流变测试的研究项目的几名教师的不同需求。 这些研究包括（i）有序聚合物和表面活性剂流体中流动诱导的结构变化的研究;（ii）嵌段共聚物凝胶的研究，该凝胶为陶瓷加工中应用的高度填充的凝胶系统提供基质;（iii）正在开发的温敏聚合物溶液和微凝胶，作为微通道装置中先进生物聚合物分离的基质;和（iv）用于生物材料应用的各种官能化聚合物凝胶和网络。 除了主要的用户社区外，还有其他几位西北大学的教职员工可能会间歇性地利用该设施来满足各种聚合物流体表征需求。% DMR材料研究计划仪器的这一奖项支持西北大学购买流变仪。“流变学”是对所谓复杂流体的流动特性的研究，用于此类研究的主要仪器是流变仪，其在明确定义的条件下测量此类复杂材料的流动行为。许多技术上重要的材料不能简单地分类为固体或液体。相反，它们的流动特性更复杂，经常结合固体和液体特性的元素。日常生活中常见的例子包括食品，如蛋清或蛋黄酱，消费品，如牙膏，乳液和粘合剂，以及生物流体。新的流变仪将服务于西北大学广泛的材料研究人员社区。一些研究领域将受益于这种新的仪器包括：1。有序聚合物和表面活性剂流体中流动诱导结构变化的研究。2.研究嵌段共聚物凝胶，为陶瓷加工中的高填充凝胶体系提供基质。3.开发中的温敏聚合物溶液和微凝胶作为微通道装置中先进生物聚合物分离的基质。4.生物材料用官能化聚合物凝胶与网络。 用于组织工程和药物输送的新材料正在用“仿生”方法合成，这种方法旨在模拟自然界形成凝胶和网络的策略。

This is an award from the Instrumentation for Materials Research program in DMR to Northwestern University. The award is for the acquisition of a controlled stress rheometer to support a wide array of research at Northwestern University on polymer materials and other complex fluids. The proposed instrument will be housed in a central polymer characterization facility, replacing aging equipment with limited capabilities. In addition, it will provide entirely new capabilities for controlled stress testing (such as creep/recovery experiments) that have never been available to the Northwestern community, and that are of significant potential value for the classes of materials under study by the major users of the instrument. In addition to its use in research, the instrument will be used extensively for lab experiments and student projects in a regularly scheduled course on polymer viscoelasticity and flow. The instrument will serve the diverse needs of several faculty members who are presently pursuing research projects that require extensive rheological testing. These include (i) studies of flow-induced structural changes in ordered polymeric and surfactant fluids; (ii) studies of block-copolymer gels that provide a matrix for highly filled gel systems with applications in ceramic processing; (iii) thermoresponsive polymer solutions and microgels under development as matrices for advanced biopolymer separations in microchannel devices; and (iv) a variety of functionalized polymer gels and networks for biomaterials applications. In addition to the primary user community, there are several other Northwestern faculty members who are likely to take advantage of this facility intermittently for miscellaneous polymer & fluid characterization needs.%%%This award from the Instrumentation for Materials Research program in DMR supports the acquisition of a rheometer at Northwestern University. 'Rheology' is the study of the flow properties of so-called complex fluids, and the primary instrumentation used for such research are rheometers, which measure the flow behavior of such complicated materials under well-defined conditions. Many technologically important materials defy simple classification as either solids or liquids. Instead, their flow properties are more complicated, frequently combining elements of both solid and liquid character. Familiar examples from everyday life include food products such as egg whites or mayonnaise, consumer products such as toothpaste, lotions, and adhesives, and biological fluids. The new rheometer will serve a broad community of materials researchers at Northwestern University. Some areas of research that will benefit from this new instrumentation include: 1. Studies of flow-induced structural changes in ordered polymeric and surfactant fluids. 2. Studies of block-copolymer gels that provide a matrix for highly filled gel systems with applications in ceramic processing. 3. Thermoresponsive polymer solutions and microgels under development as matrices for advanced biopolymer separations in microchannel devices. 4. Functionalized polymer gels and networks for biomaterials applications. New materials for tissue engineering and drug delivery are being synthesized with 'bio-mimetic' approaches-designed to simulated nature's strategies for gel and network formation.