Challenges, polymer systems

The volume of effluent among particular measuring cells has to be considered in the hyphenated detection systems. In spite of recent progress, the detection remains an important challenge in polymer HPLC, especially in case of complex polymer systems. 

Many polymer blends or block polymer melts separate microscopically into complex meso-scale structures. It is a challenge to predict the multiscale structure of polymer systems including phase diagram, morphology evolution of micro-phase separation, density and composition profiles, and molecular conformations in the interfacial region between different phases. The formation mechanism of micro-phase structures for polymer blends or block copolymers essentially roots in a delicate balance between entropic and enthalpic contributions to the Helmholtz energy. Therefore, it is the key to establish a molecular thermodynamic model of the Helmholtz energy considered for those complex meso-scale structures. In this paper, we introduced a theoretical method based on a lattice model developed in this laboratory to study the multi-scale structure of polymer systems. First, a molecular thermodynamic model for uniform polymer system is presented. This model can... 

The requirement for single crystals is perhaps more of a challenge considering the highly insoluble nature of coordination polymers. It is also notable that recrystallisation, often used for molecular systems, is not as relevant for coordination polymer systems, as not only are coordination polymers typically highly insoluble but even if they are dissolved in aggressive solvents, such as DM SO or DMF, the polymer structure will break up and any coordination polymer that reforms may bear no resemblance to the product from the original reaction. 

Characterization Challenges of Micro- and Nanografted Polymer Systems... 

Plasticisers are a special group of low molecular weight, man-made organic compounds which are used to increase flexibility, resilience and processability of polymer systems. However, their use presents technical challenges on issues of migration, evaporation, degradation and heat resistance. 

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