Lecture

Polymer Synthesis: Basics and Techniques

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In course

MSE-214: Materials engineering I

An introduction to the processing-microstructure-property relationships of polymers and metals. The objectives of the course are to understand a) basic behaviors of polymers and metals and b) how to select materials for components relevant in microtechnolo ...

Description

This lecture covers the fundamentals of polymer synthesis, including step polymerization and radical chain polymerization. It discusses important reactions, molecular weight control strategies, and the influence of molecular weight on polymer properties. Various copolymerization methods and crosslinked polymers for microengineering are also explored. The lecture delves into the application of SU-8 photoresist in lithographic fabrication and soft lithography techniques for micro- and nanofabrication.

Instructors (3)

Pierre-Etienne Bourban

Background 1990 Ingénieur en science des matériaux 1993 PhD in materials science Activities 1993-1994 Research at the Center for Composite Materials, University of Delaware, USA (ccm.udel.edu), SNSF grant Since 1994 Research and teaching at EPFL, Composites, (LTC, LPAC) 1995-1999 Coordination Swiss Priority Program on Materials research: 2.2: Composites Since 1998 Biocomposites 2004-2009 Direction of the EPFL Transdisciplinary programme in Sport and Rehabilitation 2005-2008 Member of the EPFL Vice-Presidency for Innovation and Valorisation and direction a.i.EPFL-LTC Since 2016 Direction Discovery Learning Labs Materials/Bioengineering and Engineering

Harm-Anton Klok

Expertise Polymer design at nanoscaleBiologically-inspired polymers Mission Research at the Laboratory of Polymer (LP) focuses on the development of novel advanced polymeric materials with potential applications in optics, electronics or medicine. The philosophy is that precise control over nanoscale structure is an important prerequisite to tailor polymer properties. To this end, a “bottom-up” approach is followed, which starts with designing a new material at the molecular level, in order to be able to pr

Michael Stuer

Mission Study effects of dopants and structural defects on the microstructure development and the optical properties of transparent ceramics. Teaching & PhD PhD Students Katerina Urbancová, Annalena Erlacher Courses Advanced ceramic technologies MSE-495 Advanced ceramic processing concepts and technologies will be presented. Students will learn concepts on advanced technologically-relevant ceramic materials for a wide range of applications from MedTech, energy conversion & storage, with in

Official source

Ontological neighbourhood

Chemistry

Organic chemistry: Polymer chemistry

Related concepts (32)

Polymerization

In polymer chemistry, polymerization (American English), or polymerisation (British English), is a process of reacting monomer molecules together in a chemical reaction to form polymer chains or three-dimensional networks. There are many forms of polymerization and different systems exist to categorize them. In chemical compounds, polymerization can occur via a variety of reaction mechanisms that vary in complexity due to the functional groups present in the reactants and their inherent steric effects.

Cross-link

In chemistry and biology a cross-link is a bond or a short sequence of bonds that links one polymer chain to another. These links may take the form of covalent bonds or ionic bonds and the polymers can be either synthetic polymers or natural polymers (such as proteins). In polymer chemistry "cross-linking" usually refers to the use of cross-links to promote a change in the polymers' physical properties. When "crosslinking" is used in the biological field, it refers to the use of a probe to link proteins together to check for protein–protein interactions, as well as other creative cross-linking methodologies.

Copolymer

In polymer chemistry, a copolymer is a polymer derived from more than one species of monomer. The polymerization of monomers into copolymers is called copolymerization. Copolymers obtained from the copolymerization of two monomer species are sometimes called bipolymers. Those obtained from three and four monomers are called terpolymers and quaterpolymers, respectively. Copolymers can be characterized by a variety of techniques such as NMR spectroscopy and size-exclusion chromatography to determine the molecular size, weight, properties, and composition of the material.

Graft polymer

In polymer chemistry, graft polymers are segmented copolymers with a linear backbone of one composite and randomly distributed branches of another composite. The picture labeled "graft polymer" shows how grafted chains of species B are covalently bonded to polymer species A. Although the side chains are structurally distinct from the main chain, the individual grafted chains may be homopolymers or copolymers.

Polymer engineering

Polymer engineering is generally an engineering field that designs, analyses, and modifies polymer materials. Polymer engineering covers aspects of the petrochemical industry, polymerization, structure and characterization of polymers, properties of polymers, compounding and processing of polymers and description of major polymers, structure property relations and applications. The word “polymer” was introduced by the Swedish chemist J. J. Berzelius. He considered, for example, benzene (C6H6) to be a polymer of ethyne (C2H2).

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