Course Meeting Times
Lectures: 2 sessions / week, 1.5 hours / session
Textbook
There is no required textbook for this course. A suggested reference is:
Young, R. J., and P. A. Lovell. Introduction to Polymers. 2nd ed. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press, 2000. ISBN: 9780748757404.
Assignments
Students must complete and hand in five problem sets during the term.
Students are also required to write a substantial essay on an area concerning the structure, processing, and physical properties of polymers. A two page detailed outline is due on Lec #13 and the paper is due seven days after Lec #23.
Exams
There will be two in-class exams.
Grading
| ACTIVITIES | PERCENTAGES |
|---|---|
| Five problem sets | 20% |
| Two exams | 50% |
| Essay - outline | 5% |
| Essay - final | 15% |
| Attendance and participation | 10% |
Schedule
| LEC # | TOPICS | KEY DATES |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Introduction; hard vs. soft solids; polymerization | |
| 2 | Chains; thermodynamics of polymer solutions | |
| 3 | Thermodynamics (cont.): Mean field; Flory Huggins and lattice theory; entropy and enthalpy of mixing; phase diagrams | |
| 4 | Polymer blends; viscosity; osmometry | Problem set 1 due |
| 5 | Osmometry (cont.); SEC (size exclusion chromatography) and GPC (gel permeation chromatography) | |
| 6 | Scattering; Zimm plots | |
| 7 | Glass transition temperature Tg | |
| 8 | Diffusion of polymers; reptation; elasticity | Problem set 2 due |
| 9 | Gels; Flory-Rehner theory | |
| 10 | Self organization | |
| Exam I | ||
| 11 | Intermaterial dividing surface (IMDS); polymer-based photonics | |
| 12 | Photonic crystals | |
| 13 | Influence of chain architecture on microdomain characteristics | |
| 14 | Block copolymer-homopolymer blends | |
| 15 | Hierarchically ordered BCP-nanoparticle composites | |
| 16 | Top down meets bottom up | Problem set 3 due |
| 17 | Chain folding; polyethylene and nylon; spherulites | |
| 18 | Mechanical properties; crazing; microframes and millitrusses | |
| Exam II | Problem set 4 due | |
| 19 | Mechanical properties (cont.) | |
| 20 | Single wall and multi-wall nanotubes (SWNT, MWNT) | |
| 21 | Electronic polymers | |
| 22 | Polymer conductives; polypyrrole chains; optical interactions | Problem set 5 due |
| 23 | Wrap-up and review | Project report due |