Prof. Dr. Kay Saalwächter

This module covers advanced experimental and theoretical details of polymer physics. Beside basic lecture (Soft Condensed Matter Physics), the students can focus on either experimental (Polymer Structure and Morphology) or more theoretical approaches (Polymer Theory). The Lab courses Advanced Polymer Physics Lab and Polymer Structure and Morphology give the students the opportunity to perform their own characterization experiments.
Lectures:
1. Soft Condensed Matter Physics

• Structure and dynamics of liquids (existence, pair correlation function, glass transition)
• Liquid crystals (classification, structure and defects in nematics, nematic-to-isotropic phase transition, elastic properties and Fredericks-transition)
• Surfactants: supramolecular structures and self-organization (micelles and membranes)
• Colloidal dispersions: heterogeneous systems (Brownian motion, forces between colloids, colloidal phase transitions)
• Polymers (conformations: ideal chains, rubber elasticity, introduction into semicrystalline polymers)

2a. (either) Polymer Structure and Morphology

• Scattering techniques: basic principles & general aspects, primary scattering and interference, comparison x-rays and neutrons, radiation sources and detectors
• X-ray diffraction (WAXS): typical setups, diffraction by crystals, Braggs law and Laue condition, Miller indices, Structure factor and lattice factor, scattering of amorphous materials and liquids
• Small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS): typical setups, application to semi-crystalline and self-assembled polymers, Guinier law and application to disordered systems
• Imaging techniques: light microscopy, atomic force microscopy, electron microscopy techniques

2b. (or) Polymer Theory

• Conformational statistics of polymers
• Flory-Huggins theory for solutions and blends
• Self-consistent field theory
• Random phase approximation
• Polymer networks
• Scaling theory of polymers
• Theories of polymer dynamics

Lab courses:
1. Advanced Polymer Physics Lab

• Experiments using special techniques for physical structure details: Dielectric spectroscopy, low-field NMR, light microscopy, atomic force microscopy, X-ray scattering

2. (optional) Polymer Structure and Morphology

• Practical exercises in imaging techniques, X-ray experiments with 1- and 2-dim detectors, AFM investigations on thin films
• Practical exercises in imaging techniques

completed lab course protocols, seminar (Soft Condensed Matter Physics) problem set solutions

oral or written examination (Condensed Matter, Polymer Theory or Polymer Structure)