Graduation Year
2023
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree
Ph.D.
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)
Degree Granting Department
Chemical Engineering
Major Professor
David S. Simmons, Ph.D.
Committee Member
Venkat R. Bhetanabotla, Ph.D.
Committee Member
Robert S. Hoy, Ph.D.
Committee Member
Christopher L. Alexander, Ph.D.
Committee Member
Ryan G. Toomey, Ph.D.
Keywords
Copolymer Sequence, Dynamical Gradients, Glass Formation, Molecular Dynamics, Molecular Weight
Abstract
The utilization of polymeric materials has endured since prehistory, at first unknowinglyin the form of natural biopolymers such as wood and leather, culminating and continuing through the development of the plastics industry in the early twentieth century. Polymers, along with other materials including silicate glasses, readily exhibit the glass transition upon quenching: a continuous but rapid change from viscous (liquid) to elastic (solid) behavior. The physics surrounding the glass transition have been studied for over a century; while considerable progress has been made, there remains no universally accepted predictive theory of the glass transition. Modern development of glassy materials consists of three distinct approaches: laboratory experimentation of new and uncharacterized materials, computer simulations guiding material fabrication and experimentation, and theories which prescribe why and how materials behave from atomic and molecular fundamentals.
Work here encompasses computer simulations of molecular dynamics that provide molec-ular insight for guiding experiment and theory in three avenues: molecular weight effects on the glass transition, polymer sequence effects on the glass transition, and the development of a novel forcefield for detecting the origins of glass transition in simple glass-formers. Results herein indicate where current, standard polymer glass theory fails to corroborate observed dynamical trends and guide continued research towards comprehensive understanding of the glass transition, particularly as it pertains to polymers.
Scholar Commons Citation
Drayer, William Forrest, "Dynamical Polymer Chain Heterogeneities and Their Impacts on the Glass Transition" (2023). USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/etd/10752
