Protective Polymer Coating Cross-links with Ambient Oxygen

EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE: 2 APRIL 2001 AT 19:00 ET US

Blacksburg, Va., April 2, 2001 - A team of researchers based at Virginia Tech are working to develop coatings that will be "cross-linked" or hardened by the oxygen normally present in a room.

The research will be presented at the American Chemical Society's 221st national meeting in San Diego.

Timothy Long, a faculty member in Virginia Tech's chemistry department, explains that the team is developing a polymer that provides a protective -- scratch and chemical resistant -- coating. The goals are not only that the product harden without requiring a special environment, but also that it harden quickly and that there be no byproducts, such as odors or solvents. The polymer to be introduced at the ACS meeting hardens in two minutes.

The research is being led by Yountai Yoo, visiting professor from Konkuk University, Seoul, Korea, who received his Ph.D. in chemistry from Virginia Tech in 1988 and is doing research at Virginia Tech while on a one-year sabbatical. Co-authors on the paper are Larry K. Johnson of Eastman Chemical Company, which is sponsoring the research; chemistry graduate students Jeremy Lizotte and Anthony J. Pasquale; and Long. "Rapid curing of poly(3,4-epoxy-1-butene) in the presence of a redox initiator system (POLY 180)," is being presented 4 p.m. Monday, April 2, in the San Diego Marriott Columbia 1-2.

Reach Dr. Long at 540-231-2480 or telong@vt.edu.
Dr. Long's Web site

PR Contact: Susan Trulove
STrulove@vt.edu
540-231-5646