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Iacocca
Hall, Mountaintop Campus, home of the Emulsion Polymers
Institute. EPI logo on a field of polystyrene latex
particles as viewed by transmission electron microscopy. |
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Our Mission
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To develop and carry out broad-based
fundamental and applied research in the area of polymer
colloids
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To educate scientists and engineers in
the polymer colloids field for industrial and academic
careers
Quick News Flashes
Overview of the EPI
The Emulsion Polymers Institute was formed at Lehigh
University in 1975 to carry out interdisciplinary research
designed to gain fundamental information on, and
understanding of, the preparation, characterization,
properties, and applications of latexes. A latex is defined
as a colloidal dispersion of submicroscopic polymer
particles in a continuous medium, sometimes being referred
to as emulsion polymers or polymer colloids.
The
research
activities of the Institute are diverse. There are five
areas of continuing major commitment: (1) kinetics and
mechanisms in all aspects of polymerization in
heterogeneous systems; (2) miniemulsions, their
preparation, reaction kinetics, and application in
homopolymerizations, copolymerizations, and hybrids; (3)
morphology and its development through experimental and
theoretical studies; (4) the role of surfactants
including ionic, nonionic, polymeric, and polymerizable; and
(5) film formation from latexes. Other areas of
research can include: (1) reactors, modeling, and control;
(2) surface characterization of latex particles; (3)
determination of particle size and size distribution; (4)
flocculation/coagulation; and (5) large-particle-size
monodisperse latexes, which has included microgravity and
simulated microgravity, seeded, and dispersion
polymerizations to prepare polymer particles which are
uniform, highly crosslinked, and porous. Recent contract
research includes areas such as the kinetics and mechanism
of inverse emulsion polymerization, the synthesis of
expandable microspheres, the effect of particle morphology
on impact modification, and the development of heat transfer
fluids containing nanoparticles
The Institute's
staff comprises faculty members from the departments of
Chemical
Engineering,
Chemistry, and
Physics, research scientists, post-doctoral fellows, and
visiting research scientists from many parts of the world.
It has 10 graduate students drawn primarily from the
departments of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering.
The financial
support of the Institute comes from our
Industrial Liaison
Program with
member companies from all over the world,
contract and grant research from government agencies and
industry, and proceeds of the Annual Short Course. |
