From a cursory look at the Chapters in this year’s Annual Report, one might conclude we have thirteen unrelated projects in the center. Closer examination reveals there is distinct clustering of projects. Although all the projects are related to the specific interests of diverse industrial partners, this clustering shows trends of common interests.
The most significant common trend is represented by Chapters V, VIII, IX, XI, and XIV. The underlying fundamentals of all these studies is the interaction of two or more solvents or low molecular weight penetrants during solution and diffusion in a polymeric phase. Chapter V discusses the unusual and unanticipated phenomena where the introduction of a low molecular weight solvent can actually slow down the diffusion of itself and other species in a polymer.