UK Polymer Colloids Forum

Professor Athene M. Donald

Professor in Experimental Physics

Cavendish Laboratory
University of Cambridge
Madingley Road
Cambridge
CB3 OHE
United Kingdom

Tel: +44 (0)1223 337382
Fax: +44 (0)1223 337000
e-mail: amd3@phy.cam.ac.uk

Polymer Colloids Research Interests and Expertise

• Characterization.
• Development of Environmental Scanning Electron Microscopy for wet systems.
• Real time studies of aggregation of colloidal particles including latexes.
• Study of film formation in polymer latexes.
• Phase separation processes in biopolymer mixtures.
• Rubber-toughening of brittle plastics.
• Real-time synchrotron studies to characterize the modes of deformation.
• Structure-property-processing relationships.
• Strategies for optimising toughness under different testing conditions.
• Natural materials.
• The development and analysis of industrial materials from renewable resources such as starch and cellulose.
• Film formation in modified biopolymer systems.
• Study of the breakdown of starch granule structure via the methods of SAXS, WAXS and SANS.
• Supramolecular aggregation of proteins

Facilities Available

Environmental scanning electron microscopy	FTIR microscopy
Differential scanning calorimetry	Polarised light microscopy
Phase-contrast microscopy	Rheometry
Mechanical testing	FTIR spectroscopy
Time-resolved static light scattering	Ellipsometry