Polymer Characterization: Microscopic, Spectroscopic, Thermal, Mechanical and Nanoscale Characterization

The book provides a concise and practically-driven overview of fundamentals and current experimental practices in the field of characterization of modern polymer, biopolymer materials and related composites. Such guide is important for experienced undergraduate students and new graduate students starting their adventure into polymer materials research. It helps students with quick introduction into theoretical basics, guidance on experimental routines, specimen preparations, data analysis, resolution and limitations of experimental measurements, and common issues and artifacts. It includes most popular spectroscopic and microscopic techniques for understanding chemical composition, microstructure and morphology, and fundamental properties of solid polymeric materials including mechanical, viscoelastic, thermomechanical, surface, and optical properties. All chapters are accompanied by examples of specific study cases, experimental problems and questions for solving and self-testing, as well as laboratory practice videos collected by the authors in their labs.

• Includes long-lasting and in-depth research experience in the field of polymer characterization of a wide variety of polymers, biopolymers and composites.
• Contains guide to training, practical use, data analysis, limitations and resolution, common experimental routine parameters, and other practical considerations such as applicability in real lab environment.
• Includes examples of study cases, questions and problems for student self-testing and analysis.
• Includes examples of prominent artifacts and data corruptions and how to avoid and correct those.
• Shows practical lessons in the video collected by the authors with specimen preparation, experimental parameters selection, measuring process, and data collection, all in real-time.

Daria Bukharina is a Ph.D. candidate at the School of Materials Science and Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology under advisement of Professor Vladimir V. Tsukruk. She received bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Mendeleev University of Chemical Technology in 2018. Her research interests lie in the area of bioinspired materials and nanocomposites engineering. Her current research is focused on the application of bioderived materials, polysaccharides, for advanced photonics and strongly relies on her skills in advanced characterization techniques. She received several awards among which are 2022 MRS Best Poster Award, 3M Graduate Fellowship 2023 POLY/PMSE Peer Nominated Graduate Student Award.

Paraskevi (Evi) Flouda is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the School of Materials Science and Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology working with Professor Vladimir V. Tsukruk. In 2021, she received her Ph.D. from Texas A&M under the supervision of Professor Jodie J. Lutkenhaus and Professor Dimitris C. Lagoudas. Prior to this, she received her undergraduate diploma in Materials Science and Engineering from the University of Ioannina, Greece and completed an internship at the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research. Her research focuses on polymer nanocomposites with unique morphologies and properties for energy storage applications. In addition, she has received several awards and was named a 2022 ACS PMSE Future Faculty Scholar.

Vladimir V. Tsukruk is a Regents Professor and Director of Microanalysis Center at the School of Materials Science and Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta. He received MS degree in physics from the National University of Ukraine, PhD and DSc degrees in chemistry and polymer science from the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. He carried out post-doctoral research at the U. Marburg, Darmstadt TU and U. Akron. He has co-authored about 540 refereed articles in archival journals, which have been cited more than 39,000 times, authorized and edited five books, and has trained about 120 graduate students and post-docs. Currently, he serves on the Editorial Advisory Boards of six professional journals and as an Executive Editor at ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces. His research in the field of functional nanomaterials, surfaces and interfaces, directed assembly of synthetic/natural polymers, nanostructures, and bioinspired materials has been recognized by Fulbright Award, Regents Professorship, Sigma Chi Sustained Research Award, Outstanding Research Author Award, Humboldt Research Award, and the National Science Foundation Special Creativity Award, among others. He is an elected Fellow of American Physical Society, Materials Research Society, and American Chemical Society, and Fulbright Fellow.