Application of Dynamic Spectroscopic Methods to the Rheo-Optical Characterization of Polymers

这项工作的智力价值有三个方面：1)它将在以前任何其他表征技术无法提供的时间尺度上提供聚合物结构重定向和重组的分子信息；2)进一步认识聚合物弹性和非弹性变形和断裂的基本分子机制；并且，3)它将提供聚合物化学结构与变形性能之间的相关性，可以用作具有增强性能的工程材料的模板。此外，本研究的知识将转移到其他“软”材料领域，包括生物启发和生物衍生材料，其中许多用于细胞支架和组织工程应用。拟议的研究活动将对学生和博士后研究员产生更广泛的影响，他们将接受培训，使用最先进的光谱仪器获得关于薄膜拉伸和断裂的时间分辨信息，从而了解与聚合物变形相关的物理学。从更实际的角度来看，从微电子到食品包装的商业过程中使用的大多数薄膜都涉及薄膜定向，以产生改进的机械和电子性能。对结构发展、加工历史和性能之间的相关性的理解将提供一个模板，通过先进的加工技术可以为商品材料增加“价值”，这种影响将遍及许多工业部门。

The intellectual merit of this work is three-fold: 1) it will provide molecular information on structural reorientation and reorganization in polymers on a time scale not previously available from any other characterization technique; 2) it will advance our understanding of the fundamental molecular mechanism of polymer elastic and inelastic deformation and fracture; and, 3) it will provide a correlation between polymer chemical architecture and deformation properties that can be used as a template for engineering materials with enhanced properties. In addition, the knowledge from this study will be transferable to other "soft" materials areas including bio-inspired and bio-derived materials, many of which are used in cell scaffold and tissue engineering applications. The broader impact of the proposed research activities extends to the students and postdoctoral fellows that will be trained to use state-of-the-art spectroscopic instruments to obtain time-resolved information on film drawing and fracture that will lead to an understanding of the physics associated with polymer deformation. From a more practical perspective, the use of most films in commercial processes from microelectronics to food packaging involves film orientation to produce improved mechanical and electronic properties. An understanding of the correlation between structure development, processing history and properties would provide a template by which "value" can be added to commodity materials through advanced processing techniques, an impact that would be pervasive across many industrial sectors.