PPSM sponsors a series of seminars covering a broad range of topics of general interest to the polymer community, featuring speakers from both on and off campus. [LIST OF PPSM SEMINARS 1986 to PRESENT] We invite the polymer community at MIT and elsewhere to participate. For further information, contact Professor Niels Holten-Andersen at holten@mit.edu. All talks take place on Wednesdays.

If you would like to receive Tuesday and Wednesday email announcements of the next upcoming PPSM seminar, please email your request including your email address to:
ppst-www@mit.edu

FALL 2017 SEMINAR LOCATION: 56-114

Seminar 3:30 PM / Refreshments 3:00 PM

NOTE: Updates to the calendar below will be made throughout Summer 2017 as information is received.

		NEXT POLYMER SEMINAR: Wednesday November 15th, 2017 “Building and Breaking Macromolecular Ladders to    Develop Functional Materials”   Prof. Yan Xia Department of Chemistry Stanford University ABSTRACT: In the pursuit of unusual macromolecular structures and materials, we developed Catalytic Arene-Norbornene AnnuLation (CANAL) to synthesize rigid ladder polymers consisting of an uninterrupted series of conformationally restrictive rings from cheap readily  accessible norbornenes and aryl bromides. Efficient and exclusively selective CANAL polymerization leads to ladder polymers with norbornyl benzocyclobutene backbone in high MW, despite the formed strained ring in each repeat unit. The resulting ladder polymers exhibit various contorted conformations, high surface areas, high microporosity, and surprisingly high thermal stability without detectable Tg below decomposition temperatures. These properties make such ladder polymers interesting materials for membrane separation and high temperature applications.   In the quest for synthetic materials that transduce mechanical stimulation to multifaceted signals and adapt to force, we have developed a unique class of polyadderenes, which undergo rapid force-triggered unzipping to metamorphosis into polyacetylene with > 100 conjugated olefins and uniform all trans-configuration. This design opens new avenues in developing smart materials that sense and adapt to mechanical force by transforming an array of their intrinsic properties and understanding details of mechanotransduction in polymers.
		NOVEMBER
		Please watch this space for additions to the series as information becomes available.

  Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge, MA 02139-4307