ABSTRACT
In this chapter, we attempt to show which and how certain behaviors and properties of solid polymers can be connected to and explained in terms of their single chain microstructures and resultant conformational preferences. These include the comonomer sequence-dependent softening or glass-transition temperatures (Tgs) of copolymers, the melting temperatures of semi-crystalline polymers (Tms), the topologies and moduli of cross-linked polymer networks, and the conformational dynamics of single polymer chains containing 1,4-linked phenyl rings in their backbones, and how they may be related to the impact strengths and permeabilities of their bulk solid samples. In addition, we point out behaviors and properties of solid polymers that are dominated by interactions between their chains, that are not amenable to our Inside polymer chain microstructure ←→ Outside polymer material property approach. The molecular bases for the magnitudes of polymer Tgs, the mechanical properties of amorphous and semi-crystalline polymer solids and their time dependencies, and the overall organizations or morphologies of semi-crystalline polymer samples are prime examples of solid polymer material behaviors that are currently intractable.
