HOLD FOR EMBARGO: THURSDAY, AUG. 28, 1997, 4 P.M. EDT
Contact: Blaine P. Friedlander, Jr.
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ITHACA, N.Y. -- Having mastered the world of simple polymers, materials
engineers will now turn their attention toward complex, "self-organizing"
polymers. And this will have a profound effect on our lives -- perhaps
with the potential of keeping airplane wings free of ice, according to a
Cornell scientist in the latest edition of the journal Science (Aug. 29,
1997).
"This is the beginning of a new age in polymer research," said Christopher
K. Ober, associate professor of materials science and engineering in the
College of Engineering, Cornell University. "Right now, we use simple
polymers like plastic in our everyday life; it's nothing special anymore.
But with new, complex polymers, we could have materials where, for example,
the surfaces may be designed to be markedly different from the polymer
interior. Another example is a super-strong polymer with a water-repellent
surface that could be used for an airplane wing that doesn't ice up. And
we're taking the first steps into that new age."
Ober says that in the new age of complex, self-organizing polymers made by
borrowing the self-processing behavior and complex functions of natural
polymers, different types of products are beginning to emerge. Complex
polymers are now seen as useful for films and surfaces, replete with
multiple, self-growing layers, each with different functions. He adds that
through spontaneously grown cylinders within a polymer structure,
technology could use such cylinders for molecular-scale wires -- wires as
small as 100 angstroms in diameter. "We can do this by controlling the
molecular geometry of the polymer," he said. "With these new types of
polymers, we are beginning to build in the same complexity as biological
systems."
Murugappan Muthukumar of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, Edwin
L. Thomas of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Ober published
the invited article in Science, called "Competing Molecular Interactions
and the Formation of Ordered Structures on Different Length Scales in
Self-Organizing Polymeric Materials." This article is among six in a
special section on microstructural engineering of materials.
Funding for this research into complex polymers has been provided by the
Office of Naval Research Laboratory, the Air Force Office of Sponsored
Research and the National Science Foundation. The research was carried out
by Jianguo Wang, Cornell postdoctorate associate in materials science and
engineering, and Guoping Mao, Cornell senior researcher in materials
science and engineering.
Sophisticated use of self-organizing materials, which include liquid
crystal, block coploymers, hydrogen-bonded complexes and many natural
polymers, may hold the key to developing new structures and devices in many
advanced technological industries. Now, synthetic structures are designed
with only one structure forming process in mind, Ober said. With complex,
self-organizing polymers, molecular-scaled, multilayered devices can be
built with each layer -- for example on a film -- for a purpose.
"Imagine growing different layers for different functions," said Ober.
"This has possible applications for biotechnology, sensor development, even
smart surfaces. An example where complex polymers could be used would be
sensors made using this technology, where we might soon be able to monitor
blood properties or other biological functions. Some day it might be
possible to produce such microelectronics sensors directly from a complex
polymer in a single processing step."
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