Faculty in this area include principal investigators
in the Center for Polymer and Fiber Research, an
industry/academic program with governmental and industrial
partners and researchers working on nanotube synthesis and application. Our partners include 3M, DuPont, and the
U.S. Department of Defense. Current research includes
the following:
-
Fabrication and examination of high performance
microfibers made by the melt blowing process
-
Use
of gel spinning to produce fibers that are 10
times as strong as steel: optimization of simultaneous
heat, mass, and momentum transfer in this complex
morphological problem
-
Use of LDV (Laser Doppler
Velocimetry) in the analysis of fiber-handling
processes and the
use of LDV in
the on-line control of fiber-handling processes
-
Study of polymers filled with carbon nanotubes
- Highly selective synthesis of single wall carbon nanotubes
- Nanotube application such as fuel cell electrodes, catalyst supports, field emission devices and others
-
Determination of the structure and properties
of polymers through the use of synchrotron
radiation. Techniques include scattering,
and x-ray absorption
spectroscopy
-
Nanoscale chemical modification
of surfaces to improve polymer-filler adhesion
or electrical
conductivity
in polymer-matrix composites
-
Nanoscale
templating of ordered morphologies on flat surfaces
using surfactants as
templating media for
polymerization
-
Properties of miscible
blends involving polymers with ionic groups
-
custom melt blowing die heads with
Brabender extruder and other
-
peripheral equipment
-
die test stands
-
custom gel spinning equipment
-
laser Doppler velocimeter
-
differential scanning
calorimeter
-
tensile tester for polymer films
and fibers
-
stress and strain-controlled rotational
oscillating rheometers
-
tensile oscillating rheometer
-
capillary rheometer
-
gel permeation chromatograph
-
low-angle laser
light scattering
-
scanning and transmission electron
microscopes
-
optical microscopes
-
wide and small-angle
x-ray diffractometers
-
custom emulsion polymerization equipment
-
Fourier
transform infrared spectrophotometer
-
AFM (Atomic
Force Microscope)
-
Killion Extruder
with Film
and Pelletizer
Dies
-
X-ray photoelectron
spectrometer
-
Batch mixer for polymer
melts
-
Ellipsometer
