| Description |
A polymeric coating film is formed by the deposition of liquid reactive precursors such as organic molecules/oligomers with reactive groups that cause the molecules to connect with each other and form the film while this process can be accompanied by solvent evaporation, molecular organization, the building of stress in the layer, etc. Typically, the components are multifunctional and the polymerizing system is going through the gel point – the critical conversion. Thus, the changes in the forming film include changes in the chemical and physical structure that comprise several transitions, such as liquid-rubber–glass transition, sol-gel transition, and passage of reaction kinetics from group reactivity control to group diffusion control. The concurrence of these transitions leads to time-dependent physico-chemical properties and the formation of their gradients within the layer. The aim of this work is to characterize these changes in forming films and establish quantitative relations between system structure-formation process-film properties. The project involves experimental work and may include some modeling depending on the candidate's preference. The experimental techniques besides the preparation of coatings from the model synthetic resins will be FT-IR, AFM, calorimetric scanning methods, morphology imaging (SEM, TEM), surface energy, surface tension determination, micro- and nano-indentation, NMR, and possibly other techniques. |
