Synthetic polymers are made and degraded by variety of reaction schemes, and the details of the reactor design often play a key role in defining the molecular weight distribution, polymer branch content, stereoregularity, and copolymer sequence distribution.  These factors strongly influence the fluid mechanics associated with melt-state processing, microphase separation in copolymers, and ultimate mechanical and thermal properties.  Mass transfer plays important roles in polymerization mechanisms through diffusion-limited reactions and in end-use applications related to diffusion of small molecules through barrier coatings and membranes.  High-value-added products may be made via production of (1) polymer blends, the microstructures of which are controlled by solution thermodynamics and kinetics of mixing, and (2) polymer composites, where interfacial thermodynamics and mixing on both the nano- and micro-scales are important.  Given the key roles of kinetics, catalysis, reaction engineering, thermodynamics, and transport phenomena, chemical engineering is a natural base for both experimental and theoretical research in polymer science and engineering.  The department’s broadly based activities in polymer science and engineering date back to the mid-1960’s, making it a pioneering effort in the United States.

Faculty working in Polymer Science and Engineering:
John Torkelson
Wesley Burghardt
Linda Broadbelt
Monica Olvera de la Cruz
Lonnie Shea
Annelise Barron

Collaborating Faculty, Departments, and Research Centers:
Kenneth Shull, Materials Science
Materials Research Center (Monica Olvera de la Cruz, Director)
DuPont-Northwestern-Dow
Argonne National Laboratories
Institute for Nanotechnology
Keck Biophysics Facility
Analytical Services Laboratory
Materials Science and Engineering
Biomedical Engineering
Mechanical Engineering
Applied Math
Chemistry
Physics and Astronomy
Biology, Molecular Biology, and Cell Biology