MATE 501 Structure and Properties of Polymers

Instructor: Professor: Christopher Y. Li; Office: LeBOW 27-443

Laboratory: LeBOW 27-337; Phone: 215-895-2083
Email: chrisli@drexel.edu; Website: http://soft.materials.drexel.edu/
Office Hours: Tuesday 10:00 am – 12:00 pm, or by appointment

Course Description:
Structure and properties of polymers in solid states will be discussed in the class. Topics include polymer
chain structure, polymer morphology, polymer structure, amorphous state, crosslinked polymer and rubber
elasticity, and mechanical properties of polymers. The objectives of the course are:
• Understanding the structure of condensed state polymeric materials.
• Understanding the basics of characterization techniques, including microscopy and scattering
techniques.
• Being able to design a research project that emphasizes the importance of structure and
morphology to the physical properties of polymeric materials.

Project Design and Presentation:

Students are asked to form a study group (2-3 students per group). Each study group shall submit a
polymer-related written proposal and present an oral presentation (10 min each group). Some examples of
the preferred topics are polymer nanocomposite, polymer membranes, polymer electrolytes, polymer
nanofibers, block copolymers, biopolymers, and conducting polymers. You can also find “modern polymer
topics from Sperling’s book, Chapter 14)

Timeline for the project:

1) Forming study group (week 2)
2) Deciding topic (week 4)
3) Oral presentation (Week 9. 10 min presentation each group)
4) Written proposal (Week 10). The proposal shall include:
i. Introduction (challenge and needs in the direction you are working on)
ii. Research rationale (why your approach will work)
iii. Proposed work (what are you going to do)
iv. Challenge and perspectives
v. References.
vi. Format: ~ 5 pages, single spaced
5) The final score will be based on the final written proposal (60%) and the presentation (40%).

Grading:
Homework 20%
Project 20%
Midterm 25%
Final (cumulative) 35%

Texts and References:

Polymer Chemistry Hiemenz and Lodge
Introduction to Physical Polymer Science Sperling

Macromolecular Physics Vol. 1, 2, 3 Wunderlich

Polymer Physics Rubinstein and Colby

Classnotes and additional review articles will be provided by the instructor.

 Prerequisites: Students should have knowledge about fundamentals of polymers, organic chemistry and
physical chemistry. BS/MS students should have taken MATE 214 (Introduction to polymers).

Course Calendar:

Week Topic Reading Comments

Introduction, polymer chain Hiemenz, chapter 1 & 6
1, 9/23
structure Sperling Chapter 1 & 2
Hiemenz, chapter 13 Form study group
Polymer crystal morphology,
2, 9/30 Sperling Chapter 6;
crystal structure.
Wunderlich V1 Chapter 3
Hiemenz, chapter 13
Polymer crystal structure, Sperling Chapter 6;
3, 10/7
polymer crystallization Wunderlich V1 Chapter 2, 3
Wunderlich V2 Chapter 5, 6
University Holiday
4, 10/14 Columbus Day
Hiemenz, chapter 12
5, 10/21 Mid-term Exam Sperling Chapter 7;

6, 10/28 Glass transition Hiemenz, chapter 10

Cover Introduction, polymer
7, 11/4 Network and Gels chain, crystallization and glass
transition.
Hiemenz, chapter 11
8, 11/11 Polymer viscoelasticity
Sperling, Chapter 10, 11
9, 11/18 Project presentation
Hiemenz, chapter 11 Proposal Due
10, 11/25 Polymer viscoelasticity
Sperling, Chapter 10, 11
11, 12/2 Mechanical behavior/Review Sperling, Chapter 10,11
12 FINAL EXAM Cumulative.

Academic Dishonesty:
• Academic Misconduct: Academic misconduct includes other academically dishonest acts such as tampering with
grades or taking part in obtaining or distributing any part of an administered or unadministered test.
• Cheating: Cheating is an act or an attempted act of deception by which a student seeks to misrepresent that he or
she has mastered information on an academic exercise that he/she has not mastered.
• Fabrication: Fabrication is the use of invented information or the falsification of research or other findings.
• Plagiarism: Plagiarism is the inclusion of someone else’s words, ideas, or data as one’s own work.
Detailed information can be found at: http://www.drexel.edu/provost/policies/academic_dishonesty.asp

First/all violations:
If an act of academic dishonesty is determined to have occurred, one or more of the following sanctions will be
imposed, depending on the severity of the offense:
• Reduction of a course grade.
• An “F” for the assignment or exam. - Failure for the entire course
• Other action deemed appropriate by the faculty member
• Any of the above sanctions with the inability to withdraw.
• Examples of other action deemed appropriate include, but are not limited to,
o requiring the student to re-take the exam
o re-complete an assignment, or complete an assigned exercise
The decision of the faculty member and the department head shall be reported to the Office of Student Conduct and
Community Standards, which is responsible for maintaining student conduct records. The incident will result in an
official disciplinary record for the student(s).

Second violation:
Suspension or expulsion, in addition to any sanction issued from the list above.