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Penn State University
College of Earth and Mineral Sciences

PLMSE 409: Thermodynamics, Microstructure And Characterization Of Polymers

Textbook: Fundamentals of Polymer Science, P. C. Painter and M. M. Coleman

Faculty: M. M. Coleman (Fall)

Description

This course deals with properties of individual polymer chains as well as theoretical and experimental techniques pertaining to the characterization of polymeric chain microstructure.

Course Topics

  1. Review of polymer microstructure and molecular weight.
  2. Statistics of linear and multifunctional polycondensation.
  3. Gelation theory and random branching without network formation.
  4. Application of probability theory to copolymer sequence distribution.
  5. Terminal and penultimate models of copolymerization.
  6. Chain conformations, random flight and an introduction to rubber elasticity.
  7. Thermodynamics of polymer solutions and blends; Flory-Huggins theory.
  8. Solubility parameters, polymer blends and a guide to miscibility.
  9. Review of absolute molecular weight measurements and viscometry.
  10. Size exclusion chromatography, universal calibration and the determination of long chain branching.
  11. Vibrational and NMR spectroscopies and their application to polymers.

Course Objectives

  1. To provide students with a knowledge of probability theory it as applied to multifunctional polycondensation, gelation, sequence distribution and polymer microstructure.
  2. To teach students the importance and underlying principles of polymer chain conformation and the thermodynamics of polymer solutions and blends.
  3. To provide students with a basic knowledge of the major characterization tools used to determine polymer molecular weight, its distribution and polymer chain microstructure.

Course Outcomes

  1. A student should be able to describe the different types of microstructures present in polymers and calculate molecular weight averages from a distribution of polymer chain lengths.
  2. A student should be able to calculate the degree of polymerization and molecular weight averages as a function of conversion for linear polycondensation. Moreover, he or she should be able to describe how the polydispersity varies for linear and various multifunctional polycondensation reactions.
  3. A student should be able to determine from the structure of the multifunctional monomers present at the start of a polycondensation whether or not gelation is possible.
  4. Given a polycondensation reaction containing a diacid, a dibase and either a muntifunctional (f > 2) acid or base, a student should be able to determine at what theoretical extent of reaction the system gels.
  5. A student should be familiar with the basic probability theory, including conditional probability, and be able to manipulate pertinent equations. He or she should be able to write a computer program to calculate copolymer composition and microstructural sequence information as a function of conversion.
  6. A student should be familiar with the concept of the terminal and penultimate models and be able to test whether or not given data is consistent with either model.
  7. A student should be familiar chain conformations, the end-to-end distance, and the radial distribution function. He or she should be able to describe the relevance of these concepts to rubber elasticity.
  8. A student should be familiar with the Flory-Huggins theory, solubility parameters and the c parameter and be able to describe their relevance to phase behavior of polymer solutions and blends.
  9. A student should be able to predict the miscibility of (co)polymer blends using the Miscibility Guide program.
  10. Given appropriate data, a student should be able to calculate molecular weights and intrinsic viscosity. In addition, a student should be able to determine molecular weights and polydispersity from size exclusion chromatography data of a linear polymer via the universal calibration method.
  11. A student should be familiar with the concept and effect of long chain branching in polymers and the SEC-intrinsic viscosity method used to estimate the degree of long chain branching.
  12. A student should be familiar with the basics of vibrational spectroscopy, especially infrared spectroscopy. He or she should be able to use the group frequency approach to identify (co)polymers and be able to discern whether or not infrared spectroscopy is an appropriate characterization tool for a particular problem.
  13. A student should be familiar with the basics of NMR spectroscopy, especially 1H and 13C NMR. He or she should be able to use NMR to identify and analysize selected (co)polymers using 1H NMR. In addition, he or she should be familiar with the application of NMR spectroscopy to determine tacticity and other microstructures in polymers and be able to discern whether or not NMR spectroscopy is an appropriate characterization tool for a particular problem.

Assessment Tools

  1. In-class closed book exams.
  2. Homework problem sets including those that use real experimental data and require judgment and an appreciation of the effect of errors on calculated results.