faculty pics
|
Neil McManus
Research Assistant Professor
Office: E6 5010
Phone: 519-888-4567 ext. 37015
Email: nmcmanus@uwaterloo.ca
Degrees: BSc,
PhD, Edinburgh
|
Research Interests
Current research interests focus on selected areas of applied polymer
science and engineering.
Free Radical Polymerization Kinetics to Produce Tailor Made Polymers
- Free radical based processes are amongst the most common for the production
of commodity polymers. They are used for the in many large- production
scale processes for materials such as tyre rubber, paint formulations
and commodity plastics. Many of the physical properties of these materials
relate to phenomena stemming from kinetics of the free radical polymerizations.
Thus there is a need to understand the kinetics of these reactions fully
so that processes can be tailored to give targeted physical properties.
Systems currently being studied include formulations based on common
styrenic and acrylic monomers at temperatures that are higher than those
commonly used.
Chemical Modification of Polymers
- Certain polymers cannot be made by standard polymerization methods.
Thus the modification of polymers is one way to give a wider range of
useful materials based on the polymeric substrates. Current investigations
include studies to improve the process for producing Hydrogenated Nitrile
Rubber. Other investigations involve the use of polymer modification
to improve the surface properties of commodity rubbers used for automotive
weatherstripping.
Selected References
- "Copolymerization of alpha-methylstyrene with butyl acrylate: Parameter estimation considerations by T.J. Wang, M.J. Leamen, N.T. McManus, and A. Penlidis, Journal of Macromolecular Science, Pure and Applied Chemistry (2004), A41(11), 1205-1220.
- "Hydrogenation of cis-1, 4-Polyisoprene Catalyzed by Ru(CH=CH(Ph))CI(CO)(PCy3)2" by R. Tangthongkul, P. Prasassarakich, N.T. McManus and G.L. Rempel, J. Appl. Polym. Sci (2004), 3259, 91.
- "Free radical terpolymerization of butyl acrylate/methyl methacrylate and alpha methyl styrene at high temperature by N.T. McManus, G. Hsieh, and A. Penlidis, Polymer (2004), 45, 5837-5845.
- "Comparative Trends of Copolymerizations Involving alpha Methyl
Styrene at Elevated Temperatures" by N.T. McManus, A. Penlidis and
L.M.F. Lona, Polymer Reaction Engineering, 10, 285-311 (2002).
- "The Copolymerization of a-Methyl Styrene and Butyl Acrylate in
Bulk"by N.T. McManus, M.A. Dube and A. Penlidis, Polymer 43, 1607-1614
(2002).
- "Selectivity of the OsHCl(CO)(O2)(PCy3)2 Catalyzed Hydrogenation
of Nitrile-Butadiene Rubber" by J.S. Parent, N.T. McManus and G.L.
Rempel, J. App. Poym. Sci. (2000).
- "High Temperature Solution Copolymerization of Butyl Acrylate/Methylmethacrylate:
Reactivity Ratio Estimation" by M. Hakim, V. Verhoven, M.A. Dube,
N.T. McManus and A. Penlidis, J. App. Polym.Sci.77, 602-609 (2000).
