• Question: What polymers do you research?

    Asked by Jack E to Anne, Arthur, Rose, Ruhina, Thomas on 16 Jun 2015.
    • Photo: Arthur Wilkinson

      Arthur Wilkinson answered on 16 Jun 2015:

      I now work on polymer composites – polymers containing another material to make them stiffer and stronger (reinforcements – in my case usually carbon fibre or glass fibre) or containing nano-scale particles (one ten thousandth of a millimetre in size, or less) which can act as a reinforcement but can also increase the thermal and electrical conductivity of the polymer (as polymers are typically insulators). The most common nano-scale particels in our lab are carbon nanotubes and graphene. The polymers containing carbon fibre fibe are usually epoxy resins (this type of composite is used on modern aircraft, such as the Boeing 787 Dreamliner). We use a wide range of polymers (icluding epoxy resins, polypropylene, acrylics and nylons) with the nano-scale particles to make polymer nanocomposites.

    • Photo: Ruhina Miller

      Ruhina Miller answered on 16 Jun 2015:

      Whilst I don’t research polymers, I work with silicon based polymers during my research 🙂

    • Photo: Rose Simnett

      Rose Simnett answered on 17 Jun 2015:

      I work on polymers that contain a specific group called pyrrolidone. I look at making new polymers with this group in which will hopefully have some interesting and beneficial properties.

    • Photo: Thomas Farrugia

      Thomas Farrugia answered on 22 Jun 2015:

      Hi Jack – I use a surfactant based polymer in my research – it isn’t exceptionally long (maybe around 40 carbons long), and has a negatively charged group on it, which is used to attached the surfactant to the positive charges on my proteins.

      When I mix the protein and polymer together the positive and negative charges attract, causing the polymer to stick onto the protein. My research mainly revolves around using these materials to make films, although previous research has used them to make liquid proteins without any water in them!

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