Details of Grant 

EPSRC Reference:	GR/R20472/01
Title:	The Structure and Composition of Polymer/Surfactant Mixtures At Interfaces
Principal Investigator:	Thomas, Dr RK
Other Investigators:	Penfold, Professor J
Researcher Co-Investigators:
Project Partners:	Unilever
Department:	Oxford Chemistry
Organisation:	University of Oxford
Scheme:	Standard Research (Pre-FEC)
Starts:	01 June 2001	Ends:	30 November 2004	Value (£):	293,651
EPSRC Research Topic Classifications:	Chemical Structure Complex fluids & soft solids
EPSRC Industrial Sector Classifications:	Chemicals
Related Grants:
Panel History:	Panel Date Panel Name Outcome 06 Dec 2000 Chemistry Single Panel Dec 2000 Deferred
Summary on Grant Application Form
Surfactant/polymer mixtures are used in a wide range of formulations because the combination of the two leads to a wide variety of useful rheological and surface properties. The former have been relatively well studied, but the latter hardly studied at all. The difficulty has been the lack of suitable experimental techniques. Neutron reflection is sensitive to interfacial composition and structure and the complexity of the interfaces of polymer/surfactant mixtures in no way diminishes this sensitivity. We have already demonstrated that neutron reflection is able to reveal an unexpected level of interesting detail in these mixed layers. We now propose to make a systematic study of the interfacial composition and structure of representative types of surfactant/polymer mixture and to relate this molecular level information to the thermodynamic aspects of the surface behaviour. We will focus on the air/water interface because we will be able to achieve a much higher precision of measurement and interpretation and therefore have a significant chance of producing a quantitative model. However, we are aware that, in terms of applications, the behaviour at the solid/liquid interface is more important and we will be seeking to extend the model to this more difficult surface.
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Organisation Website:	http://www.ox.ac.uk