Polymers Laboratory

Purpose of Polymer Laboratory is to familiarize students with the instrumental analytical techniques which are necessary for the characterization of polymers and the determination of thermal, rheological and mechanical properties.

Objectives

At the end of this laboratory course the student should be able to : 1. Organize and perform experiments using instrumental analytical techniques for the characterization of polymers and determination of their properties. 2. Be acquainted with the basic knowledge of these techniques and process the data of the experiments. 3. To evaluate the result and understand the polymers’ properties from both laboratory experiments and “Polymer Science” course.

Prerequisites

There no prerequisite courses. It is however, recommended that students should have at least basic knowledge of Polymer Science and Instrumental Analysis.

Syllabus

1.Viscometry Determination of intrinsic viscosity, average molecular weight Mv and molecular size of macromolecules by using Ubbelohde viscometers. 2. Gel permeation chromatography (GPC) Determination of average molecular weights and molecular weight distribution of polymers. 3. Infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) Application of FTIR for the identification of polymers and determination of copolymer composition. 4. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) Determination of glass transition temperature, degree of crystallization and melting temperature of polymeric samples. 5. Tensile Testing Stress-strain curves of various polymeric samples and determination of mechanical ultimate properties. 6. Polymer Rheology Study of the rheological behavior of concentrated aqueous polymer solutions by using Couete viscometer, effect of Mw and temperature.