Global polymer science expert, Emeritus Professor Dame Julia Higgins, will visit ANSTO to explain how neutron scattering is helping us understand the behaviours of a molecule essential to everyday life.
Polymers are complex molecules that encompass a large class of compounds comprising both natural and synthetic materials that play a variety of roles ranging from familiar synthetic plastics and elastomers to natural biopolymers such as nucleic acids and proteins that are essential for life.
Modern techniques, including neutron scattering, have allowed scientists to get a better understanding of the behaviour of polymers by drilling down to the molecular level.
To help explore this subject, one of the world's leading experts Professor Dame Julia Higgins from the Imperial College in London will be visiting ANSTO on Monday February 6 to outline the use of neutron scattering and how this helps answer fundamental questions in polymer science.
Appearing as part of ANSTO’s Distinguished Lecture series, the Emeritus Professor of Polymer Science in the Department of Chemical Engineering at the Imperial College will share her insights at the AINSE theatre located near the ANSTO café.
Dame Julia Higgins' extensive experience in this area provides a great opportunity to learn more about the relationship between nuclear investigative techniques and the study of molecules. A thread running through her career has been the successful application of a number of these techniques to understanding the organisation and behaviour of long polymer molecules.