Living in a material world. . .

May 30, 2005

Have you ever filled a ziplock bag with water, sealed it and stabbed a pencil through it? You might want to try it because, unbelievably, the bag will not leak.

It’s everyday concepts like these that Professor Richard Kaner, a visiting Fulbright Fellow from the University of California, Los Angeles, is using to help people understand polymers (the long chains of molecules that can be twisted and moulded into products) and the synthesis and characterisation of new materials that can lead to exciting real world applications.

“The reason the bag won’t leak is because the polymers in the plastic stretch around the pencil,” he said.

Professor Kaner presented a lecture at UOW last week (Friday 27 May), discussing highlights from two decades of materials research. His four-month visit to Wollongong has been part of a prestigious scholarship with the Australian-American Fulbright Commission and involves working closely with UOW’s Director of Intelligent Polymer Research, Professor Gordon Wallace.

“The research team is making some great progress and I’m really loving it here,” he said. “I’m working with some very talented people and I’ve never seen such a cohesive research group.”

Professor Kaner also discussed his detailed research into conducting polymers – unusual plastics that conduct electricity.

“By combining polymers with nanotechnology we can develop highly sensitive vapour detectors based on conducting polymer nanofibres, " he said.

He also discussed new synthetic techniques including a solid-state reaction that reaches greater than 1000 degrees centigrade in less than a second.

"This reaction can be used to make new ultra-incompressible, hard boride materials that rival diamond.”

Professor Kaner has found that relating chemical concepts to everyday life is very important. Concepts such as why a mustard packet can be so difficult to open, or why certain garbage bags rip and other don’t. In conjunction with Intelligent Polymer Research Institute scientists, Professor Kaner has also been developing a way to print conducting polymers.

“We’re developing what’s called ‘smart paper’ where your computer doesn’t just scan the document, it actually senses it electronically. We’re a few steps closer to having your computer actually interact with your documents.”