This three-year award for US-Spanish collaboration in polymer processing involves Alan Tonelli and C. Maurice Balik of North Carolina State University and Marian Gomez of the Institute of Science and Technology of Polymers in Madrid, Spain. The objectives of the project are to explore systematically the use of inclusion compounds as a way of enhancing the properties of isotactic polypropylene(i-PP). They will determine the conditions under which cyclodextrin inclusion compounds (CD-ICs) can be formed with i-PP and the elastomers used in its blends, study the morphology and properties of i-PP after its coalescence from its CD-IC, study the properties and morphology of intimate i-PP/elastomer blends formed via coalescence from their common CD-IC crystals, and compare the properties of i-PP/elastomer blends processed via the CD-IC route with materials of identical composition but processed via traditional methods.
The US researchers bring to the collaboration expertise in the preparation of polymer CD-ICs and characterizing them with NMR, FTIR, x-ray diffraction and thermal analysis techniques. Their expertise also includes polymer morphology, sorption, and diffusion of small molecules through polymers, and structure-property relationships. This is complemented by the Spanish researcher's extensive experience in the preparation and characterization of i-PP/elastomer blends and composites. The results of the collaboration are expected to an improved understanding of the mechanisms responsible for the unique morphologies and properties polymers might obtain after coalescence from their CD-ICs. The broader impact of this research lie in the opportunity to produce new and improved materials based on i-PP.
