Details of Grant 

EPSRC Reference:	GR/S43368/01
Title:	Rheology Control with Associating Polymers - Experiments and Polymer Solution Molecular Simulations
Principal Investigator:	Heyes, Professor DM
Other Investigators:
Researcher Co-Investigators:
Project Partners:
Department:	Health and Medical Sciences
Organisation:	University of Surrey
Scheme:	Standard Research (Pre-FEC)
Starts:	17 November 2003	Ends:	16 November 2006	Value (£):	139,935
EPSRC Research Topic Classifications:	Materials Characterisation Rheology
EPSRC Industrial Sector Classifications:	Manufacturing Chemicals Healthcare Pharmaceuticals and Biotechnology No relevance to Underpinning Sectors
Related Grants:	GR/S43771/01
Panel History:
Summary on Grant Application Form
Hydrophobically associating polymers are widely used to modify the rheology of water based industrial and consumer products. These materials are also attracting increasing attention in biomedical applications, as separation media for DNA, in tissue engineering, wound care and in the controlled release of drugs. An associating polymer can control the rheological and transport properties of an aqueous formulation by forming a transient network that spans the system. Network formation arises as a consequence of the association of the hydrophobes into micelle-like junctions in a manner analogous to surfactants. Much of the recent experimental and theoretical work has focussed on telechelic polymers (linear chains with hydrophobic end-caps ). We propose to focus specifically on more complex architectures - comb polymers in which the hydrophobes are pendant to the backbone. Such materials offer far greater latitude in terms of application properties. The key to effective exploitation of these materials is to ascertain the key structure-property relationships linking molecular architecture with network topology. We propose to achieve this aim by use of a combination of experiments on well-tailored polymers and simulations developed for solutions of polymers of similar architecture and molecular weight. Simulations will provide a useful means to verify relationships implicit in the experimental data and will be developed into a useful predictive tool that will facilitate the design of polymers with enhanced or specifically tailored properties.
Key Findings
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Organisation Website:	http://www.surrey.ac.uk