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 Turner Alfrey Visiting Professor

Turner Alfrey Visiting Professor Program

This year's Visiting Professor is Professor Timothy P. Lodge (resume in pdf format), McKnight Distinguished University Professor, Department of Chemistry and Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Minnesota in Minneapolis.

The next generation of valued-added polymeric materials will often incorporate two or more monomeric ingredients, and will feature the control of structure on the nanometer scale. Block copolymers serve as natural structure-directing agents via self-assembly, and offer great promise in a wide variety of applications. Recent advances in synthetic technique, especially controlled radical polymerization, enable cost-effective access to many block architectures. Theoretical understanding of the factors that control the equilibrium self-assembled structure is highly advanced, as are the necessary experimental characterization tools. This is true both in the bulk, and in solutions of micelles. However, the tendency of block polymers to become trapped in metastable states is ubiquitous, due to restricted chain mobility and sizeable thermodynamic barriers. These issues will all be discussed in detail. The lectures will conclude with a discussion of a particular application space, namely, the production of functional membranes from block copolymer materials.

Topic #1 – Attributes of Self-assembly: (a) General advantages and disadvantages; (b) Particular features of the block polymer approach; (c) Technological examples and possibilities

Topic #2 – Synthesis of Block Polymers: (a) General strategies; (b) Anionic polymerization; (c) Controlled radical polymerization

Topic #3 – Block Copolymer Phase Behavior: (a) Competition between interfacial energy and chain entropy; (b) Characterization by TEM, SAXS, and SANS; (c) Self-consistent mean-field approach; (d) The double gyroid phase: A case study in complexity; (e) Persistent puzzles: FCC or BCC? Orthorhombic phase? Perforated layer phase?; (f) Extension to ABC triblock terpolymers; (g) Extension to solutions in neutral and selective solvents

Topic #4 – Order-Disorder and Order-Order Transitions: (a) Detection by rheology and birefringence; (b) Fluctuation effects near the ODT; (c) Epitaxial pathways, metastability, and kinetics; (d) Importance of SAXS/SANS in flow; (e) Use of polarized optical microscopy

Topic #5 – Dynamics in Self-assembly and Processing: (a) Rouse/Zimm and reptation models for homopolymer liquids; (b) Block copolymer diffusion; (c) Block copolymer rheology

Topic #6 – Micelles in Solution: (a) Factors that dictate micelle size and shape; (b) Characterization by dynamic light scattering and cryo TEM; (c) Stimuli-responsive micelles; (d) Multicompartment micelles; (e) Equilibration and metastability in micelles

Topic #7 – Membrane Applications: Targeting Bi- and Tri-continuous Phases: (a) Network phases in AB and ABC systems; (b) Bicontinuous microemulsions; (c) Nanoporous materials; (d) Templating

Title:	Block Copolymer Self-Assembly: The Flexible Route to New Functional Materials
Course Number:	COURSE 1038
Lecturer:	Professor Timothy P. Lodge
Place:	Lecture Hall (Room 101), Michigan Molecular Institute, 1910 West St. Andrews Road, Midland, MI 48640
Time:	Formal lectures: Monday – Thursday, May 16 - 19, 2010, 2:30 – 6:00 p.m.
Fee:	There is no fee for auditors if they belong to organizations that are financial sponsors of the Turner Alfrey Visiting Professor program: The Dow Chemical Company, Dow Corning Corporation, Central Michigan University, Michigan State University, Saginaw Valley State University, and Mid-Michigan Section of the SPE. For all others, a course fee of $400 will be required at registration. All participants, however, must register.
Registration:	Pre-registration is required one week in advance with the Registrar by calling (989) 832-5555, ext. 571 or by e-mail at registrar@mmi.org.