Webinar Real Time Monitoring Drives Polymerization Success

Sept. 14, 2012 - PRLog -- Real-time, in situ monitoring provides invaluable data that can be used to control polymerization, leading to higher-weight, performance-optimized polymers. A new, free, on-demand webinar from METTLER TOLEDO offers an expert review of real-world experiments in which in situ monitoring helped lay the groundwork for exciting innovations in this rapidly-evolving synthesis arena.

METTLER TOLEDO has launched a new on-demand webinar entitled "Improving the Understanding and Control of Polymer Synthesis." This free presentation discusses emerging trends in polymer research through the work of Professor Tim Long's group at Virginia Tech and the Thames-Rawlins group at the University of Southern Mississippi. It covers in situ reaction analyses that helped researchers achieve better control of the polymerization process for significant process improvement and time-savings.

The importance of real-time, in situ reaction analysis for polymerization in part resides in the fact that many of these reactions are run at high temperatures and/or pressures. Oxygen-sensitivity and or hazardous solvents or reagents make offline sampling problematic at best and dangerous at worst. Impurities introduced during offline sampling can also degrade results, requiring rework.

In this webinar we will profile applications in the biomedical and polymer films for the protection of first-responders facing chemical/biological agents.  Such profiles include complex step group polymerization, cross-linked network studies and free-radical polymerizations.. Fourier Transform Infared (FTIR) monitoring helped researchers with a variety of activities, including evaluating solvents; monitoring monomer conversion and polymerization degree; understanding kinetics; and calculating reactivity ratios.

FTIR data was also used to construct three-dimensional graphs that helped researchers visualize more than one significant data aspect at once; for example, monomer absorbance vs. time. This plotting ability, using METTLER TOLEDO ReactIRTM advanced FTIR technology for the real-time monitoring of chemical reactions), provided more robust information in only a fraction of the time it would have taken to construct plots using data from an offline sample series.

For more on the original experiments, as well as how real-time understanding of various polymerization parameters can help optimize the physical properties and performance of synthesized polymers, view the free webinar today at glo.mt.com/global/en/home/events/webinar/ondemand/polymer.html?crel=ePR_PP_EN