The Chemistry Department at the University of Liverpool has achieved a significant milestone in the realm of polymer science with groundbreaking research.
In their investigation, Liverpool’s scientists harnessed the power of mechanochemistry to elucidate the reaction of a polymer chain in a solution when subjected to a sudden surge in solvent flow. Their findings, titled “Experimental Quantification of Molecular Factors Driving Flow-Induced Polymer Mechanochemistry,” have been published in the prestigious journal Nature Chemistry and graced its front cover.
This innovative approach has successfully addressed a pivotal and long-standing query that has captivated polymer scientists for half a century. Since the 1980s, researchers had endeavored to comprehend how dissolved polymer chains react to abrupt accelerations in solvent flow. However, they were constrained to working with overly simplified solvent flow models that yielded limited insights applicable to real-world systems.
The discovery made by Liverpool’s esteemed chemists, Professor Roman Boulatov and Dr. Robert O’Neill, carries profound implications for various domains within the physical sciences. Moreover, it has practical ramifications for industries with multi-million-dollar processes reliant on polymer-based rheological control, such as enhanced oil and gas recovery, long-distance piping, and photovoltaic manufacturing.
Professor Roman Boulatov remarked, “Our breakthrough addresses a fundamental question in polymer science and has the potential to revolutionize our understanding of chain behavior amidst cavitational solvent flows.”
Dr. Robert O’Neill, a co-author of the study, added, “Our demonstration of this approach underscores that our prior comprehension of how polymer chains respond to rapid accelerations in solvent flow within cavitating solutions was overly simplistic. This insight is invaluable for systematically designing novel polymer structures and compositions to efficiently and economically control rheology in such scenarios, and for gaining a deeper understanding of flow-induced mechanochemistry at the molecular level.”
The research team’s future endeavors will focus on broadening the scope and capabilities of their innovative methodology. Their aim is to harness it to map the intricate physics at the molecular level, enabling precise predictions of flow behavior under any combination of polymer, solvent, and flow conditions.
Source: University of Liverpool