Jeff Vavasour's POLYMER PHYSICS Page
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Current Research | B.Sc. (Hons.) Thesis | M.Sc. Thesis | Publications | Presentations | Humour | About PostScript

Throughout much of my undergraduate and graduate career I was involved in research in theoretical polymer physics with Dr. Mark Whitmore, (then of Memorial University of Newfoundland's Physics Dept, presently the Dean of Science at University of Manitoba). (This persisted as a "hobby" side-line during my initial time as a graduate student at the Unversity of British Columbia studying Quantum Gravity. After leaving graduate school to work with Digital Eclipse Software, Inc. in the unrelated field of video game development, I returned in 1999 to complete an M.Sc. under Dr. Birger Bergersen at UBC Physics and Astronomy with the unofficial co-supervision of Dr. Whitmore.)

The focus of most all this research has been the application of a mean field theory, modelling polymers as continuous space curves, to derive a set of self-consistent equations which specify the equilibrium morphology of neat copolymer systems and polymer blends (e.g. copolymer/solvent or copolymer/homopolymer).

 

Current Research

Dr. Whitmore and I continue to collaborate on extensions of our Numeric Self-Consistent Field (NSCF) formalism for modelling polymer morphologies. The current application of interest is copolymer/homopolymer blends, the foundation for which may be found in my M.Sc. thesis. The algorithm is driven through the user interface depicted here. Symbols are as described in my M.Sc. thesis.

This software package can generate NSCF solutions describing the equilibrium properties of any A-b-B/A copolymer/homopolymer blend or neat A-b-B copolymer system. It includes consideration for conformational asymmetry, and may be applied to a series of system parameters. The solutions for the lamellar morphology are exact within the confines of the mean field. Solutions for cylindrical and spherical morphologies employ the unit cell approximation for the Wigner-Seitz cell. (See my B.Sc. thesis for further details on the unit cell approximation.)

If you are a researcher interested in collaborating for the purposes of comparing our NSCF solutions with experiment or alternate formalisms, please don't hesitate to contact Dr. Whitmore or me.

SPECIFIC ACTIVE PROJECTS:

The content of this section will likely be of interest only to Dr. Mitch Winnik's Polymer and Colloid Chemistry Group at University of Toronto's Chemistry Dept. It represents a collaborative theoretical modelling effort. The data may be accessed here.

 

B.Sc. (Hons.) Thesis

My 1992 B.Sc. (Hons.) thesis, from the Dept. of Physics at Memorial University of Newfoundland under the supervision of Dr. Mark Whitmore, was titled "Self-Consistent Mean Field Theory of the Microphases of Neat Diblock Copolymers". The content of this thesis was published in Ref. 2 below. The thesis can be viewed online, or downloaded here in two forms:

View Jeff's B.Sc. (Hons.) Thesis online
Download Jeff's B.Sc. (Hons.) Thesis in PostScript format (457K, zipped)
Download Jeff's B.Sc. (Hons.) Thesis in Adobe Acrobat (PDF) format (959K) (requires Acrobat Reader).

 

M.Sc. Thesis

My 2000 M.Sc. thesis, from the Dept. of Physics at the University of British Columbia under the supervision of Dr. Birger Bergersen, was titled "Self-Consistent Mean Field Theory of the Lamellar Morphology of Binary Copolymer-Homopolymer Blends". The contents of this thesis have been submitted for publication as Ref. 6 below. The thesis can be viewed online, or downloaded here in two forms:

View Jeff's M.Sc. Thesis online
Download Jeff's M.Sc. Thesis in PostScript format (933K, zipped)
Download Jeff's M.Sc. Thesis in Adobe Acrobat (PDF) format (1.94MB) (requires Acrobat Reader).

 

Refereed Publications

  1. Whitmore, M. D., Vavasour, J. D. "Self-Consistent Mean Field Theory of the Microphase Diagram of Block Copolymer - Neutral Solvent Blends", Macromolecules, 25, 2041-2045 (1992).
  2. Vavasour, J. D., Whitmore, M. D. "Self-Consistent Mean Field Theory of the Microphases of Diblock Copolymers", Macromolecules, 25, 5477-5486 (1992).
  3. Vavasour, J. D., Whitmore, M. D. "Self-Consistent Theory of Block Copolymers with Conformational Asymmetry", Macromolecules, 26, 7070-7075 (1993).
  4. Gregory, P. C., Vavasour, J. D., Scott, W. K., Condon, J. J. "The Parkes-MIT-NRAO (PMN) Map Catalog of Radio Sources covering -88° < d < -37° at 4.85 GHz", Ap.J.Supp., 90, 173-177 (1994).
  5. [Invited paper] Whitmore, M. D., Vavasour, J. D. "Self-Consistent Field Theory of Block Copolymers and Block Copolymer Blends", Acta Polymer., 46, 341-360 (1995).
  6. Vavasour, J. D., Whitmore, M. D. "Effects of Solubized Homopolymer on Lamellar Diblock Copolymer Structures", Macromolecules, 34, 3471-3483 (2001).
  7. Rharbi, Y., Zhang J.-X., Spiro, J. G., Chen, L., Winnik, M. A., Vavasour, J. D., Whitmore, M. D., Jérôme, R. "An Energy Transfer Study of Homopolymer Localization in Block Copolymers," Macromolecules, 36, 1241-1252 (2003).
  8. Li, D., Laule, C., Vavasour, I., Vavasour J., Whittall, K., MacKay, A. "Cervical Cord Atrophy Assessment on Magnetic Resonance Imaging: PROMiSe Trial," Mult. Scler., 10, S79-80 (2004).
  9. Spiro, J. G., Yang, J., Zhang, J.-X., Winnik, M. A., Rharbi, Y., Vavasour, J.D, Whitmore, M. D. "Experimental and Theoretical Investigation of the Lamellar Structure of a Styrene-Butyl Methacrylate Diblock Copolymer by Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer (FRET), Small-Angle X-Ray Scattering (SAXS) and Self-Consistent Field Simulations," Macromolecules, 39, 7055-7063 (2006).

 

Presentations

  1. Vavasour, J. "Microphase Separation in Block Copolymer/Solvent Blends", 25th annual Canadian Undergraduate Physics Conference Scientific Poster Competition (2nd prize), University of Waterloo, November 3rd, 1989.
  2. Vavasour, J. "Self-Consistent Theory of Block Copolymer Blends: Selective Solvent", 26th annual Canadian Undergraduate Physics Conference Scientific Poster Competition, Université Laval, November 3rd, 1990.
  3. Vavasour, J. "Self-Consistent Theory of Block Copolymer Blends: Selective Solvent", Student Seminar, Memorial University of Newfoundland, February 1st, 1991.
  4. Vavasour, J. "Self-Consistent Theory of Block Copolymer Blends: Selective Solvent", 1991 Atlantic Undergraduate Physics Conference Student Talk Competition, University of New Brunswick, February 10th, 1991.
  5. Vavasour, J. "A Mathematical Approach to Constructing the Phase Diagram of Copolymer/Solvent Blends", Student Seminar, Memorial University of Newfoundland, October 25th, 1991.
  6. Vavasour, J. "A Mathematical Approach to Constructing the Phase Diagram of Copolymer/Solvent Blends", 27th annual Canadian Undergraduate Physics Conference Student Talk Competition (2nd prize), University of Alberta, November 1st, 1991.
  7. Vavasour, J. "A Mathematical Approach to Modelling Copolymer Behaviour", 1992 Atlantic Undergraduate Physics Conference Student Talk Competition (Honourable Mention), Dalhousie University, February 8th, 1992.
  8. Whitmore, M. D., Vavasour, J. D. "Self-Consistent Theory of the Microphase Diagram of Block Copolymers" Contributed paper at the annual meeting of the American Physical Society, Division of High Polymer Physics, Indiana, March 14th, 1992.
  9. Vavasour, J. D., Whitmore, M. D. "Self-Consistent Mean Field Theory of the Microphases of Diblock Copolymers" Contributed paper at 1992 Canadian Association of Physicists Congress (received Lumonics Award), University of Windsor, June 14th-17th, 1992. Summarised in Physics in Canada, vol. 48, no. 5, pp. 287-289.
  10. Whitmore, M. D., Vavasour J. D. "Microphase Behaviour of Block Copolymers: A Comparison of Theoretical Approaches" Poster presented at Physics at the Frontier: Statistical Physics at the 45th Parallel, Clarkson University, Potsdam, N.Y., October 2nd-3rd, 1992.
  11. Whitmore, M. D., Vavasour J. D. "Self-Consistent Theory of the Microphase Diagram of Asymmetric Block Copolymers" Contributed paper at the annual meeting of the American Physical Society, Division of High Polymer Physics, Seattle, March 25th, 1993.
  12. Vavasour, J. D. "A Statistical-Mechanical Approach to Modelling Polymer Systems" Graduate Student Seminar Series, University of British Columbia, June 30th, 1993.
  13. Laule, C., Vavasour, I. M., Vavasour, J. D., Oger, J., Paty, D. W., MacKay, A. L., Li, D. K. B. "Cervical Cord Abnormalities in Primary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis: Atrophy and Myelin Water Changes" Poster presented at 19th Congress of the European Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis, Milan, Italy, September 17th-20th, 2003.
  14. Laule, C., Vavasour, I. M., Vavasour, J. D., Oger, J., Paty, D. W., MacKay, A. L., Li, D. K. B. "Cervical Cord Abnormalities in Primary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis: Atrophy and Myelin Water Changes" Poster presented at 12th Meeting of the International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, Kyoto, Japan, May 15th-21th, 2004.
  15. Spiro, J. G., Yang, J., Winnik, M. A., Farinha, J. P. S., Vavasour, J. D., Whitmore, M. D. "Characterization of Nanoscope Template Materials" Poster presented at 17th Canadian Material Science Conference, Vancouver, BC, Canada, June 12th-14th, 2005.
  16. Li, D. K. B., Laule, C. , Vavasour, I., Zhao, Y. , Traboulsee, A., Oger, J. , Vavasour, J. D., MacKay, A. "2 Year Follow-up of Cervical Cord Volume and Myelin Water Fraction in Primary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis and Healthy Controls" Poster presented at 23rd Congress of the European Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis, Prague, Czech Republic, October 11th-14th, 2007.
  17. Laule, C., Vavasour, I. M., Zhao, Y., Traboulsee, A. L., Oger, J., Vavasour, J. D., MacKay, A. L., Li, D. K. B., "2 Year Follow-up of Cervical Cord Volume and Myelin Water Fraction in Primary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis and Healthy Controls" Platform oral presentation at The Canadian endMS Research Conference, Banff, Canada, December 10th-13th, 2007.

 

Humour

Follow this link to a parody review paper I wrote which appeared in Physics in Canada:

  1. Vavasour, J. "A Review of Physical Inebriology", Phys. in Canada, November 1991. pp. 199-200.

Go to the online version of this parody paper
Download the PostScript version of this parody paper
Download the Adobe Acrobat (PDF) version of this parody paper (requires Acrobat Reader).

 

Viewing PostScript Files

If you want to view PostScript files on your PC, I recommend downloading Aladdin Ghostscript and GSView.

All content ©2000 Jeff Vavasour. Updated January 13, 2008.