Division/Committee: [ORGN: Division of Organic Chemistry] [PMSE: Division of Polymeric Materials Science and Engineering] [POLY: Division of Polymer Chemistry]

(FINANCIAL CO-SPONSORS: NSF Center for Molecularly Optimized Networks) Polymers and polymer networks command a market of $100 billions and are the foundation of three divisions of the ACS. Through synthesis, chemists can now program remarkable properties and function into individual polymer molecules, including in recent years the ability to stretch twice as far and absorb ten times more mechanical energy than had previously been observed. These remarkable molecular advances, however, have yet to be translated effectively into polymer networks. To date, the details of molecular design have been hidden by statistical chemistry and poorly defined structures, limiting the ability to bring chemical knowledge to bear on challenges in network performance and properties. This symposium will feature researchers across polymer chemistry who are developing the chemical tools that allow the impact of specific molecular behaviors on macroscopic network properties and function to be seen and optimized.

Rachel Letteri

Texas A&M University

Appearances