Polymethacrylates Adsorbed on SilicaFrank D. Blum, Missouri University of Science and Technology, DMR -0706197

Understanding of the behavior of adsorbed polymers is critical to advances in composite materials for structural or electronic applications. Some polymers adsorb on substrates via hydrogen bonding. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy has been used to study the H-bonding with silica for polymers of methyl, ethyl, butyl, lauryl, and benzyl methacrylates. Interestingly, the polymer with the shortest (glassy polymer) and longest (rubbery polymer) side chain had the largest fractions of bound carbonyls. These unusual results demonstrated how the side chain of the polymer affected the behavior of the polymer at the interface.

P. Krisanangkura, A. M. Packard, J. Burgher and F. D. Blum, J. Polym. Sci. B: Polym. Phys. 48, 1911-8 (2010), DOI: 10.1002/polb.22066 For this work, the coauthors included an undergraduate and a high school student.

Idealized surface structures of adsorbed polymers on silica (top) and bound fractions of carbonyls for different methacrylates (bottom).

Seven US scientists were part of a delegation to Islamabad, Pakistan for the US-Pakistan Workshop on Applications of Nanotechnology (WANT 2010), May 31 - June 4th, 2010.  Faculty lectured on their research interests in nanotechnology and participated in discussions leading to additional interactions with Pakistani scientists. The group also toured the facilities at the National Centre for Physics, Quaid-i-Azam University,  Pakistan Institute of Engineering and Science (PIEAS) , and COMSATS Institute of Information Technology.

Some of the participants in the Workshop on the Applications of Nanotechnology.

Polymethacrylates Adsorbed on SilicaFrank D. Blum, Missouri University of Science and Technology, DMR -0706197