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SUMMARY:Polymerization Kinetics\, Thermodynamics\, and Synthesis under Nan
 oconfinement  - Professor Sindee L. Simon\, Department of Chemical Enginee
 ring\, Texas Tech University
DTSTART:20200221T131500Z
DTEND:20200221T141500Z
UID:TALK139789@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Prof. A. L. Greer
DESCRIPTION:The behavior of materials confined at the nanoscale has been o
 f considerable interest over the past several decades\, especially changes
  in the glass-transition temperature (Tg) and/or melting point (Tm).  Less
  well studied are the effects of nanoconfinement on polymerization kinetic
 s and thermodynamics.  Our recent focus has been on understanding how nano
 confinement influences various classes of polymerizations\, including the 
 step-growth reactions of thermosetting resins\, the free-radical reaction 
 of various methacrylates\, and the ring-opening polymerization of dicyclop
 entadiene.  We find that changes in reaction rates under confinement can g
 enerally be explained by a competition between changes in local packing\, 
 diffusivity\, and surface effects.  The result is generally\, but not alwa
 ys\, an acceleration of the rate of the nanoconfined polymerization.  In a
 ddition\, nanoconfinement influences the chain length\, PDI\, and tacticit
 y of the synthesized polymer\, making confinement a potential tool for con
 trolling synthetic outcomes.  Finally\, in the case of equilibrium polymer
 izations\, nanoconfinement influences the monomer/polymer equilibrium shif
 ting it back towards monomer\, and this effect can be exploited to determi
 ne the entropy loss on confining a chain and to test scaling theories in t
 he literature concerning confinement entropy.
LOCATION:Goldsmiths' Lecture Room 1\, Department of Materials Science &amp
 \; Metallurgy\, 27 Charles Babbage Road\, CB3 0FS
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