Mass Spectrometry Advances in Polymer and Materials Science

Progress in science and engineering relies on synthetic macromolecules with well-defined structures, optimized for specific applications. Mass Spectrometry (MS) provides a powerful tool for the molecular characterization of such compounds. MS unveils molecular weight (MW) and functionality distributions and is ideally suitable for monitoring changes in mass.

For complex mixtures, MS can easily be hyphenated with liquid chromatography and/or ion mobility spectrometry. Conversely, large or crosslinked macromolecules can be made analyzable by coupling MS with mild thermal degradation. In all cases, additional insight about structure and architecture can be gained through tandem mass spectrometry fragmentation.

Such multidimensional characterization approaches have been utilized to elucidate the microstructure of a broad range of polymeric materials, as will be demonstrated for variously shaped (co)polymers, complex conjugate blends, crosslinked materials, and solid surfaces.

Presenter: Chrys Wesdemiotis (Distinguished Professor of Chemistry, The University of Akron)

Chrys Wesdemiotis completed his Ph.D. at Technische Universität Berlin (1979). After a postdoctoral fellowship with Fred W. McLafferty at Cornell University (1980) and military service in Greece (1981‐1983), he returned to Cornell as senior research associate (1983‐1989). In 1989, he joined the University of Akron, where he currently is Distinguished Professor of Chemistry, Polymer Science, and Integrated Bioscience. Research in the Wesdemiotis group focuses on the development and application of mass‐spectrometry methods for the characterization and imaging of synthetic polymers, advanced materials, and polymer–biomolecule conjugates. Wesdemiotis is AAAS fellow and the 2020 recipient of the George Stafford Whitby Award of the ACS Rubber Division. He has served in the Editorial Boards of Mass Spectrometry Reviews, International Journal of Mass Spectrometry, European Journal of Mass Spectrometry, and the Journal of the American Society for Mass Spectrometry. The Wesdemiotis group has published over 300 peer‐reviewed publications.