Faculty

Kathy L. Singfield
Assistant Professor and Chair

B.Sc. (St. Francis Xavier University, 1987)
M.Sc. (McGill University, 1989)
Ph.D. (McGill University, 1996)
Post Doctoral Fellow 1996, Eindhoven University of Technology, The Netherlands.

Contact: Kathy L. Singfield

Research Interests

Polymer Crystallization and Spherulite Morphology; Gelation of Synthetic Polymers and Biopolymers.

Summary of Research Activities

Research projects in this lab focus on the elucidation of the structure of polymer spherulites, and understanding the factors which govern their formation from the disordered state, namely the melt, or liquid state. Ultimately the physical properties of polymeric materials derive from their structural makeup as well as the chemical makeup of the polymer chains, and this structure-property relationship provides the incentive for the intensive investigations of many years. Notwithstanding these efforts, the detailed structural nature of polymer spherulites and the controlling factors of the overall crystallization process of even some of the most familiar polymers, e.g. polyethylene, are still subject of concentrated study.

Standard techniques employed in this work include optical microscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, and surface analysis techniques such as atomic force microscopy.

All research is carried out by undergraduate students.

Research projects have included the synthesis of polyethers as model polymers with thermal properties in the range of ideal working temperatures.

Courses

General Chemistry I CHE 210
General Chemistry II For Engineers CHE 213
Introductory Thermodynamics CHE 312
Chemical Reaction Equilibria and Kinetics CHE 313

Representative Publications

"Correlation Between Main Chain Chirality and Crystal "Twist" Direction in Polymer Spherulites" K.L. Singfield, J.K. Hobbs, A. Keller, Journal of Crystal Growth 183 (1998) 683-689.

"Optically Active Polyethers 2. Atomic Force Microscopy of Melt-Crystallized Poly(epichlorohydrin) Enantiomers and Their Equimolar Blend." K.L. Singfield, J.M. Klass, G.R. Brown. Macromolecules 28 (1995) 8006-8015.

"Optically Active Polyethers 1. Studies of the Crystallization in Blends of the Enantiomers and the Stereoblock Form of Poly(epichlorohydrin)." K.L. Singfield, G.R. Brown. Macromolecules 28 (1995) 1290-1297.

 

 

This page last modified Monday, 09-Jan-2012 13:33:31 AST