Major Research Instrumentation funds will be used to acquire instrumentation for polymer analysis: a high temperature gel chromatograph (GPC) and a light scattering detector, equipped with an argon ion laser, for additional detection capability. The available GPCs at Northwestern University do not have the high temperature capability or the sensitivity needed for cutting edge research in polymers. This new equipment will be installed in the Analytical Services Laboratory of the Department of Chemistry at Northwestern University. The greatest number of users will come from the Department of Chemistry, but the Department of Chemical Engineering and the Department of Materials Science and Engineering will also have research projects making significant use of this instrumentation. The equipment will address the need of several research groups to characterize polymer samples in terms of their molecular weights, molecular weight distributions, and hydrodynamic volumes in solution. This research covers a broad range of topics including new catalysts for polymerization, self assembly of supramolecular aggregates, thermo-responsive polymers for DNA sequencing, polymer degradation mechanisms, interfacial adhesion of semicrystalline polymers, and polymer processing. In addition to the important research that will benefit from the new instrumentation, there is a strong educational component. The graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and undergraduate students using the instrument for their research will receive substantial benefit from working with a state-of-the-art instrument. In addition, a further benefit will come from a formal educational component of the instrument being available for laboratory classes. The combination of research and education applications will allow the benefit of this equipment to be felt by an increased number of users.
Major Research Instrumentation program funds will be used to acquire a gel permeation chromatograph for use in polymer analysis. This instrument will be use in a variety of projects of researchers in several departments at Northwestern University. The instrument will have a large impact on the research training of students, postdoctoral to undergraduate, by allowing them hands-on experience on a state-of-the-art instrument.
