| EPSRC Reference: |
GR/K58159/01 |
| Title: |
CALCULATING PHASE SEPARARTION IN POLYMER BLENDS - MOLECULAR STRUCTURE AND FLOW RESPONSE |
| Principal Investigator: |
McLeish, Professor T |
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| Department: |
Physics and Astronomy |
| Organisation: |
University of Leeds |
| Scheme: |
Standard Research (Pre-FEC) |
| Starts: |
01 October 1995 |
Ends: |
30 September 1998 |
Value (£): |
99,422
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| EPSRC Research Topic Classifications: |
| Materials Characterisation |
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Summary on Grant Application Form |
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We propose to study, theoretically, the dynamics of concentration fluctuations in concentrated solutions of polymers and in polymer blends; giving particular attention to the effects of branching and polydispersity. There will be strong collaboration with experimental work at Imperial College, London, and industrial research at ICI.There are a number of outstanding questions for the related problem of spinodal decomposition, which occurs when the conditions of a blend are changed to favour demixing. We intend to develop and extend previous work on blends of star-shaped and linear polymers, to allow for time dependent effects and the presence of polydispersity by considering both thermodynamic and kinetic factors.Measuring the relaxation of concentration fluctuations using dynamic light scattering is an important technique for probing molecular and collective dynamics; however, some theoretical aspects of the problem are far from understood, and have yet to be extended to allow for branching. Planning collaboration with the group at Imperial College, London will permit rapid advance for the UKs research activity in this area.Finally, we will also examine the industrially important, and scientifically challenging, problem of phase separation in the presence of steady state shear flow.This work is of interest to both the academic scientific community and those industries developing polymeric materials and blends for use in advanced technologies. The project will build on existing strong links, which have been developed in previous projects.
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Key Findings |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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Potential use in non-academic contexts |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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Impacts |
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| Description |
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Sectors submitted by the Researcher |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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| Project URL: |
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| Further Information: |
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| Organisation Website: |
http://www.leeds.ac.uk |