Mesoscopic chemical reactors: high-performance polymers

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Mesoscopic chemical reactors high-performance
polymers
Extrusion of ultra-high-molecular-weight
polyethylene
K. Kageyama et al., Science, 285, 2113 (1999)
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Processing Ordering
Monoliths with highly ordered domains
Powders with high porosity
Fibers with aligned mesophases
Aligned thin films
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Multicomponent, Processable, Hierarchically
Ordered

• Control of competing kinetic processes
• Diffusion convective mixing
• Inorganic hydrolysis
• Self-assembly
• Inorganic oxide polymerization
• Solvent evaporation
• Fiber/film draw rates, patterning
• Inorganic oxide crystallization

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Functionalized Mesoporous Membranes

• Purifications and Reactions
• pharmaceuticals, environmental remediation, etc.
• Fuel Cells
• proton exchange membranes for high temperature
  operation
• Low-Dielectric-Constant Materials
• ultra-small transistors, integrated circuits,
  microelectronics

mesoporous silica
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Incorporation of Optical Functionalities
In transparent composites

• Organic Dyes
• Conjugated Polymers
• Organometallics
• DNA
• Semiconducting Quantum Dots
• Nanowires
• Inorganic Charge Transfer
• Rare Earth Complexes
• Enzymes, e.g., organophosphorus
• hydrolase

In transparent mesoporous solids
50 nm