New methods for purifying polymers

The Project: Redox-active polymers contain side products from synthesis that act as roadblocks for employing the polymers for real-life applications. This project develops purification methods to remove these impurities, enabling to use of these materials for various applications, including bioelectronics or energy conversion technologies. Once polymers have been purified, their physical and electrochemical properties are compared to the polymers containing impurities to learn how side products left over from synthesis are affecting the polymer properties. 

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What you will do: You will learn how to use high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) from our group to purify polymers. You will focus on removing small molecules and metal traces. Furthermore, you use the size exclusion chromatography column to sort polymers by chain length (molecular weight) with the aim of studying the role of molecular weight on the physical properties. Once the polymers are purified, you will study the structure-property relationships of the purified polymers. You will collaborate with researchers at international universities (in Europe, UK and USA)