3.063 | Spring 2007 | Undergraduate

Polymer Physics

Lecture Notes

LEC # TOPICS
1 Introduction; hard vs. soft solids; polymerization (PDF - 1.5 MB)
2 Chains; thermodynamics of polymer solutions (PDF)
3 Thermodynamics (cont.): Mean field; Flory Huggins and lattice theory; entropy and enthalpy of mixing; phase diagrams (PDF)
4 Polymer blends; viscosity; osmometry (PDF)
5 Osmometry (cont.); SEC (size exclusion chromatography) and GPC (gel permeation chromatography) (PDF - 1.3 MB)
6 Scattering; Zimm plots (PDF - 1.1 MB)
7 Glass transition temperature Tg (PDF)
8 Diffusion of polymers; reptation; elasticity (PDF)
9 Gels; Flory-Rehner theory (PDF - 2.0 MB)
10 Self organization (PDF - 2.0 MB)
11 Intermaterial dividing surface (IMDS); polymer-based photonics (PDF - 3.0 MB)
12 Photonic crystals (PDF - 2.2 MB)
13 Influence of chain architecture on microdomain characteristics (PDF - 1.8 MB)
14 Block copolymer-homopolymer blends (PDF - 1.2 MB)
15 Hierarchically ordered BCP-nanoparticle composites (PDF)
16 Top down meets bottom up (PDF - 1.6 MB)
17 Chain folding; polyethylene and nylon; spherulites (PDF - 1.2 MB)
18 Mechanical properties; crazing; microframes and millitrusses (PDF)
19 Mechanical properties (cont.) (PDF)
20 Single wall and multi-wall nanotubes (SWNT, MWNT) (PDF)
21 Electronic polymers (PDF - 2.3 MB)
22 Polymer conductives; polypyrrole chains; optical interactions (PDF)
23 Wrap-up and review

Supplemental Readings

Ruzette, A.-V., and L. Leibler. “Block copolymers in tomorrow’s plastics.” Nature Materials 4 (2005): 19-31.

Course Info

As Taught In
Spring 2007
Learning Resource Types
Problem Sets
Lecture Notes
Written Assignments with Examples