Polymerisation in Flow and Solid State.

The aim of this thesis was to develop and facilitate new approaches to polymer synthesis. The chosen tools for this task were flow chemistry and topochemical polymerisation. Flow chemistry has proven its strength in the past and is a technique suitable for performing synthesis at scale. Three areas were explored in this thesis. In the first results chapter the free radical polymerisation of aqueous solution of acrylic acid (7) has been studied using a continuous flow reactor to quickly screen reaction parameters such as temperature, residence time, monomer- and initiator concentration. The experimental data sets produced established a theoretical basis for conducting scale up processes to efficiently produce larger quantities of poly(acrylic acid) (8) delivered with good control over the molecular weight and dispersity. The data sets were used to study the ability to synthesise polymers on demand. The developed methodology to synthesise aqueous soluble polymers in flow, possessing a variety of molecular weights and dispersities have been achieved. However, full conversion was hard to achieve without increasing the dispersity and purification was therefore necessary. The second results chapter studied the direct purification to obtain purified polymer under one hour. This opened up a new way to synthesise and isolate polymers. Performing a free radical polymerisation in flow does not result in the control over tacticity of the polymerisation. The third results chapter studied the synthesis of polymers via topochemical polymerisation and the advantages it can add to general polymer synthesis

Moisture transport over the brick/mortar interface

The moisture transport in brick, mortar that was cured separately, and combined brick/mortar samples was studied using NMR. The experimental results show that the mortar is less permeable if it is cured bonded to the brick instead of cured separately. Models of the moisture transport are usually formulated on the basis of a diffusion equation. Preliminary simulations of the moisture transport over brick/mortar interfaces roughly correspond with measured moisture contents

Le Master The Beatles, Popular Music and Society

Au Royaume-Uni, les frais d’inscription ont tellement grimpé que les masters sont à présent inabordables pour de nombreuses personnes. Partant de ce constat, l’auteur de cet article s’est attaché à créer des ponts entre le master The Beatles, Popular Music & Society et l’attraction touristique Beatles Story. Les qualifications acquises par de nombreux guides professionnels (qu’ils possèdent le Blue Badge ou le Green Badge) ainsi que par des travailleurs de l’industrie des Beatles inscrits dans ce programme leur a ainsi permis d’améliorer leur sort. On a souvent dit des fans des Beatles qu’il leur était difficile d’obtenir un « retour sur investissement ». L’expérience relatée dans ces pages tend pourtant à démontrer que ce n’est pas une fatalité.In Britain, fees rose to such an extent that MAs are now beyond many people’s budgets. This writer turned his attention towards linking the The Beatles, Popular Music and Society MA programme with The Beatles Story tourist attraction. This MA was constructed to include Post Grad Certificate and Diploma awards as developmental rather than as “exits”. Such qualifications are now helping to upgrade local Blue Badge Guide and Beatles industry workers. So far, one Blue Badge and one Green Badge guide have graduated. It has been suggested that thus far, in Beatles fan circles, a return on investment is extremely difficult to bring to fruition. As far as serious Beatles researchers and industry are concerned, The Beatles, Popular Music and Society MA is clearly in accord with students’ return on investment