The usage properties of materials consisting of polymers, irrespective of the fact if synthetic or natural polymers are meant, are considerably determined by the inherent properties of the polymers themselves. They are influenced by the structure of the monomers which the polymer is composed of, their arrangement to each other, the functional groups contained and the size of the macromolecules.
One way to adjust the material properties to the changed usage requirements is the targeted chemical change of the polymer structures. We would like to achieve this by polymer-analogous modification and synthesis of newly developed structures. One example is the chemical coupling of special acrylate-based macromolecules with synthetic collagen peptides, in order to get biocompatible polymers for applications in the field of medical engineering. In this regard polymerisation techniques such as controlled radical polymerisation and click chemistry are applied. Another example concerns the flame-resistant equipment of plastics which shall be achieved by introducing fire-retardant phosphoric groups divided into polymer or plasticiser molecules.
In addition to the classical laboratory equipment for polymer syntheses we can use two laboratory reactors of different size. They enable us to produce the developed polymers in a scale-up. The reactors may be coupled with an in situ IR unit which enables a relatively exact tracing of the reaction processes and optimisation of the reaction conditions.
