Science / Technology - Colloquium
Monday, September 28, 2009
4:00 PM-5:00 PM
Olin Hall
223
Block Copolymers are long chain molecules made of segments of more than one polymer variety covalently joined together. This molecular architecture leads to many technologically important phenomena which are useful in applications that range from the semiconductor to the commodity polymer industries. Many of the most important properties of these systems result from the nanoscopic structures that form due to the chemical incompatibility of the blocks. In this talk I will present our progress towards a more detailed understanding of the physics of these systems. I will focus on the simplest system, that of symmetric diblock copolymers (where the chain consists of two distinct blocks of equal size) in a variety of different experimental confining geometries. I will show how the micro-phase separated structures lead to conically shaped fluid droplets, how the thin film geometry can be adapted into a very simple measurement of the Flory-Huggins interaction parameter and how the structured surface of a thin film can be used to drive a simple wrinkled geometry into a state of stress localization.
Cost: FREE
Sponsored by: WPI Physics Department, Dr. Erkan Tuzel
Suggested Audiences: College
E-mail:
tuzel@wpi.edu
Phone: 508-831-5391
Last Modified: September 22, 2009 at 1:58 PM
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