Explores the behavior, properties, and applications of polyelectrolyte hydrogels, including swelling, deformation, stress-strain behavior, and mechanical properties, as well as self-healing and assembly processes.
Explores polymer synthesis basics, including step and radical chain polymerization, molecular weight control, copolymerization, and crosslinked polymers for microengineering.
Covers the general aspects of polymer materials, the 'Big 5' technical polymers, spider silk nanostructure, synthetic polymers, major application segments of plastics, and the activities of the Polymer Science department at EPFL.
Discusses how polymer structure affects crystallinity and the propensity of polymers to crystallize, distinguishing between amorphous and semi-crystalline polymers.
