Polymer behavior as a research area examines how polymeric materials respond to external and internal stimuli across multiple length and time scales, integrating polymer physics, chemistry, and materials science. It encompasses the study of chain conformation, segmental dynamics, entanglements, and relaxation processes, as well as phase behavior, crystallization, glass transition, and viscoelasticity in melts, solutions, gels, and solid states. Researchers investigate how molecular architecture (e.g., linear, branched, crosslinked, block copolymers), interactions, and processing conditions govern mechanical, rheological, thermal, and transport properties, using theoretical models, simulations, and experiments to predict and tailor macroscopic performance from molecular-level structure and dynamics.
Dielectric elastomer actuators (DEAs) can undergo large, reversible in-plane deformation. In a new report now published in Science Advances, Junhong Pu and a team of scientists in soft materials research and polymer science ...
Researchers from Tel Aviv University have discovered, for the first time, a series of physical properties existing in polymer microfiber networks, among them "shape memory." These discoveries open the doors to a range of ...
Nanomaterials
Feb 24, 2022
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124
Nanoparticles have applications as therapeutic agents for joint diseases such as osteoarthritis. But the role of nanoparticle diffusion in synovial fluid or the fluid inside the joint is incompletely understood. In a new ...
Ion-sieving polymer membranes can perform with exquisite precision by gaining unprecedented control over pore size and uniformity within the membranes, KAUST researchers have shown.
Nanomaterials
Sep 1, 2021
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486
Some materials used in aerospace applications such as polymers can degrade and erode with prolonged exposure to atomic oxygen, ultraviolet radiation, and extreme temperature cycling in the outer space. Also, because orbiting ...
Nanomaterials
Jul 22, 2021
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129
