Advanced functional polymetric materials: fundamentals to applications

许多工业面临的一个问题是由于运动部件之间的润滑不足而引起的机械故障所造成的费用。分子的结构/形态，例如聚合物，在表面之间的界面通常决定了相互作用的强度，直接影响粘附和摩擦。通过获得对聚合物在两个表面（受限）之间的构象变化的基本理解；新的，改进的材料可以定制，以尽量减少有害的表面相互作用。这种理解也可以用来改善其他材料的性能，这些材料的聚合物彼此紧密地堆积在一起。例如，用于过滤和色谱的聚合物材料，微流体装置中的聚合物阀，以及聚合物药物输送载体。我们的研究重点之一是了解聚合物的界面行为，作为约束的函数。这项工作将使用专门用于研究这些系统的新型表面等离子体共振光谱仪（SPR）来完成。新的SPR将允许在前所未有的水平上研究这些材料，具有无与伦比的准确性和精度。

One problem facing many industries is the cost incurred from the failure of machinery as a result of inadequate lubrication between moving parts. The structure/morphology of the molecules, e.g. polymers, at the interface between surfaces often dictates the strength of the interactions, directly influencing adhesion and friction. By gaining a fundamental understanding of the conformational changes a polymer experiences when between two surfaces (confined); new, improved materials can be tailor made to minimize harmful surface interactions. This understanding can also be used to improve the performance of other materials that have polymers packed in close proximity to one another. For example, polymeric materials for filtration and chromatography, polymer valves in microfluidic devices, and polymeric drug delivery vehicles. One of our research focuses is on understanding the interfacial behavior of polymers, as a function of confinement. This work will be accomplished using a novel surface plasmon resonance spectrometer (SPR) built specially for studying these systems. The new SPR will allow such materials to be studied on levels never before possible, with unsurpassed accuracy and precision.