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Address: J.J.Thomson Physical Laboratory, Whiteknights, Reading RG6 6AF, England Telephone: +44 (0) 118 9318572 Fax: +44 (0) 118 9750203 email: R.H.Olley {AT} reading.ac.uk I work in the Polymer
Physics Group of the Physics
Department
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| I would describe myself as a Polymer Morphologist.
I am not an astronaut, but I am a "Real Space Man" in the sense that I
look down microscopes to see the actual shape of things, rather than following
the manner of most physicists and throwing particles or rays at them and
deducing their structure from the resulting scattering pattern.
Most of the time, I look at the "common" plastics Polyethylene and Polypropylene. Common they may be, but they are most interesting materials from the structural point of view. Under the microscope they are found to have complex crystalline structures, which besides raising a lot of questions in regard to pure science are of great importance in relation to how these materials perform in everyday situations. I have also studied a variety of other semicrystalline polymers, including TPX, PEEK and PET. At present, the morphology of blends is being studied. Besides simply looking at mixtures of polymers, we are also studying multi-phase systems synthesized as one material, for example polypropylene-polyethylene "block" copolymers which display the characteristics of a three-phase blend. My techniques of work include Optical Microscopy, Scanning and Transmission Electron Microscopy, and Thermal Analysis (Differential Scanning Calorimetry). In order to get these materials under the microscope, generally we etch them with a permanganic reagent developed here at Reading (R.H.Olley, Science Progress, (1986) 70, 17-43). Besides fundamental studies, we also look at these
materials in a variety of practical, industrially oriented applications.
One recent examples is our cooperation with a number of groups in the University
of Leeds, particularly in regard to the development of fibre composites.
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