Caption: Polycarbonate, a type of polymer glass, can be bent (sheet), mashed (cylinder), or twisted (rod) without breaking. UW-Madison chemistry professor Mark Ediger studies the fundamental properties of polymer glasses that allow them to bend rather than break when put under stress. In a paper appearing in Science Express on Nov. 28, 2008, Ediger reported that a pulling force speeds up the movements of individual molecules within a polymer glass by more than a factor of 1,000. These fast molecular rearrangement allow the material to be shaped without cracking.
Photo by: Hau-Nan Lee, UW-Madison dept of chemistry
Date: November 2008
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Caption: UW-Madison chemistry professor Mark Ediger studies the fundamental properties of polymer glasses that allow them to bend rather than break when put under stress. In a paper appearing in Science Express on Nov. 28, 2008, Ediger and his research team reported that a pulling force speeded up the movements of individual molecules within a polymer glass by more than a factor of 1,000, which allows the material to be bent, mashed, or twisted without cracking. The team includes (L to R): Keewook Paeng, Mark Ediger, Stephen Swallen, and Hau-Nan Lee.
Photo by: Mark Ediger, UW-Madison Dept of chemistry
Date: November 2008
High-resolution JPEG