RESEARCH INTERESTS

Professor Cook's research interests deal with the relationships between polymer structure, reaction kinetics and mechanical, thermal, electrical and rheological properties. This work involves two aspects: firstly, the investigation of well defined (and stable) materials to provide structure-property fundamentals and secondly, the extrapolation (and extension) of this knowledge to the structure as it changes due to chemical, thermal, temporal or stress induced change. Four specific polymer areas are currently being targeted. The first area is that of polymer networks in which three dimensional structures are formed by crosslinking reactions. In some studies, the photocuring technique is used as a convenient way of controlling the polymerization process. The influence of gelation and vitrification on the reaction kinetics and the final structure and morphology are being examined by thermal, microscopy and spectroscopic techniques. The second area deals with the mechanisms of yielding and toughening of polymers. These include phase-precipitation, core-shell and particulate toughening; yielding mechanisms and viscoelastic processes; and ageing phenomena. The third area is that of polymer blends. This work is studying the effect of the polymer-polymer interaction and processing conditions on the final morphology and hence physical properties of the blend. The last targeted area deals with nano-structures in crosslinked polymers produced either by inclusion of nano-fillers into the polymer matrix or by the creation of nano-structures in the matrix by controlled polymerization techniques.

TEACHING INTERESTS

Mechanical properties of polymers
Polymer rheology and processing
Polymer synthesis and structure characterization
Polymer composites
Network polymers - structure-properties and applications
Viscoelasticity, plasticity and rubber elasticity of polymers
Polymer engineering and materials selection
Stress analysis in polymer engineering
Applications of mathematics to polymer engineering
Statistics in materials engineering

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