Spectroscopic investigation of polymers and self-assembled materials

现代聚合物和自组装材料通常呈现出从纳米到毫米的复杂层次结构。因此，设计和生产具有针对特定应用的性能的材料需要比以往任何时候都更好的结构表征。在这种背景下，我们的研究试图提高我们对聚合物和自组装材料的加工条件、结构和性能之间的关系的理解。我们的工作主要集中在两类体系上：聚合物混合物和聚合物与小分子之间的自组装络合物。我们制备了这些材料的厚膜和超薄(纳米)薄膜，并在静态和扰动条件下对它们进行了表征。例如，我们对样本应用机械变形来模拟工业处理方法的效果。我们还使用静电纺丝来制备直径远低于传统纤维的新型纤维。我们寻求制备具有特殊或易于控制的性能的纤维。

Modern polymeric and self-assembled materials often present complex hierarchical structures, from nanometers to millimeters. The design and production of materials with properties targeted for specific applications thus requires a better than ever characterization of their structure. In this context, our research seeks to improve our understanding of the relationships between the processing conditions, the structure, and the properties of polymers and self-assembled materials. Our work focuses on two types of systems: polymer mixtures and self-assembled complexes between polymers and small molecules. We prepare thick and ultrathin (nano)films of these materials and we characterize them under both static and perturbed conditions. For instance, we apply mechanical deformations to samples to simulate the effect of industrial processing methods. We also use electrospinning to prepare new fibers with diameters much below that of conventional fibers. We seek to prepare fibers showing unusual or easily controllable properties.