Polymer: A fascinating research topic

Yoz,

Here are some articles on the recent topic of Polymers which we have covered.

Fascinating Spider Silk - Spider silk is a polymer with many useful properties.

Q1. Which class of polymer is spider silk? Which mechanism of polymerisation is it made from?
Q2. What are the monomers making up spider silk. What functional groups do these monomers contain?
Q3. We have learnt about monomers, dimers and polymers. What is an oligomer? [Advanced material]

Picture taken from National Geographic.

A myriad of potential applications of spider silk are described in the following article: Artificial Spider Silk Could Be Used for Armor, More

Welcome To A New Era In Recycling Of Plastics

Q1. Ionic compounds have high melting point. Why is that so?

Q2. How is it possible to get an ionic liquid? [Advanced material]

CCT 2

Dear All,

CCT 2 is scheduled on Wk 8 Thurs (16 Aug). It will be held in period 1, before the RI Lecture.

The topics tested include:

- Energetics (i.e. Energy changes)

- Kinetics (i.e. Rate of reactions)

- Equilibrium (refer to the notes and advanced text for more details)

- Electrochemistry

Knowledge of basic chemical concepts: mole concept, redox, etc. are assumed.

Work hard!!

Gas Hydrates

Yoz.

Just as we were talking about the gas hydrates, Russia is claiming its rights to them.

Russian Arctic flag planting ridiculed

Picture taken from Channel Newsasia website.

Now, for those interested in finding out more about the gas hydrates, read this:

Gas hydrates - Fuel of the future?

Q1: What are gas hydrates?

Q2: What fuels people's interest in it? (no pun intended)

Q3: As global warming continues, the gas hydrates become more accessible. What social, economic, political and environment issues will it bring?

Picture taken from http://ess.nrcan.gc.ca

Have fun thinking of these questions (and not just mug for ur coming CCTs).