New Generation Polyolefin Materials and Characterization Techniques

全球鼓励增加使用可回收的环保塑料，推动了新的聚烯烃应用的发展。聚烯烃（聚乙烯、聚丙烯及其共聚物）制造成本低，生产工艺对环境影响小，由于其通用的分子结构而具有令人印象深刻的应用范围，并且可以方便地回收多次。这些特性使它们在运输领域的广泛应用中非常有吸引力（汽车和航空航天）、包装、医疗、消费品、电子、电缆和电线涂层、隔热和隔音，拟议的研究计划的主要目标是研究具有先进分子结构的聚烯烃的生产和表征，这些结构将成为下一个这些材料的产生。为了生产新的聚烯烃，人们需要设计它们的分子结构：它们的性质只能通过单体分子（乙烯，α-烯烃，有时还有二烯）连接形成聚合物链的方式来改变。预计本申请中提出的研究计划将通过制造具有增强的机械和热性能的聚烯烃材料来导致聚烯烃生产技术的显著进步。聚合物合成和表征的系统方法，与基础数学模型的开发相互联系，将导致具有增强性能的聚烯烃的量身定制合成，促进我们对这些多功能材料的理解，并为将在这些项目中工作的3名博士生提供良好的培训机会。

Global incentives to increase use of recyclable, environmentally friendly plastics are driving the development of new polyolefin applications. Polyolefins (polyethylene, polypropylene, and their copolymers) are inexpensive to make, are produced in processes that have low environmental impact, have an impressive range of applications due to their versatile molecular structures, and can be conveniently recycled several times. These characteristics make them very attractive for a broad range of applications in the transportation (automotive and aerospace), packaging, medical, consumer products, electronics, cable and wire coating, thermal and acoustic insulation, and building and construction sectors.The main objective of the proposed research program is to investigate the production and characterization of polyolefins with advanced molecular structures that will become the next generation of these materials. To produce new polyolefins, one needs to design their molecular architectures: their properties can only be changed by the way the monomer molecules (ethylene, alpha-olefins and, sometimes, dienes) are connected to form the polymer chains. It is expected that the research program proposed in this application will result in significant advances in polyolefin production technology by making polyolefin materials with enhanced mechanical and thermal properties. The systematic approach to polymer synthesis and characterization, interconnected with the development of fundamental mathematical models, will lead to the tailor-made synthesis of polyolefins with enhanced properties, advancing our understanding of these versatile materials and allowing for excellent training opportunities of the 3 PhD students who will work in these projects.