A variety of high molecular weight amorphous macromolecules were examined using time-dependent solid-state NMR methods, with the goal of determining how individual macromolecular chains respond to the formation of intimate mixtures with dissimilar polymer chains. These studies, which relied extensively on CODEX NMR methods, revealed that different polymers retain unique glass transitions, friction coefficients, configurational entropy, and dynamic heterogeneity even in miscible blends mixed on the nanometer length scale. Based on these findings, new experiments involving gradient copolymers have been devised to extract the degree to which bulk polymer behavior may be controlled by the tailoring the construction of the molecular gradient interface. 

Soft matter poses hard problems: Magnetic resonance as a route to untangling amorphous macromolecular systems

245th National Meeting (2013)

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.