Latex and NAD Dispersions

Emulsion and dispersion polymerization are relatively simple techniques to prepare nanometer to micrometer-sized particles of uniform size. With control of the location of functional groups in these particles, they may be thought of as organic mesostructures with a broad spectrum of potential applications, ranging from medical diagnostics, drug delivery vehicles, and ink constituents, to environmentally friendly coatings. Sometimes these particles have a very complex morphology. Under these circumstances, these materials are easier to prepare than to characterize. During the 1980's, we worked with M. Croucher at Xerox to develop new methods to determine particle structure and to elucidate the mechanism of particle formation. [see Macromolecules, 16, 699-702 (1983)] We published more than 20 papers on the topic of particle morphology determination, employing a wide variety of experimental methods (e.g., NMR, kinetics measurements, electron microscopy including freeze-fracture) in addition to a battery of fluorescence techniques. I often think of this period as the turning point in my scientific career, because it taught me how to interact with scientists in industry, and served as the platform for developing the experimental strategy that we now employ in our research on complex polymer systems.