An Introductory Polymer Chemistry Course for Plastics Technology Students

Penn State-Erie offers one of three undergraduate degree programs in plastics engineering technology in the country, which has seen considerable growth since its inception in 1989. A decision was made recently to increase the chemistry component of the program by adding a course in introductory polymer chemistry. The students have superior practical skills and experience in the handling of plastics, but are poorly equipped to deal with the properties of plastics at the molecular level. A traditional course in polymer chemistry was inappropriate for their needs, so a more visual approach was chosen, based on teaching the fundamentals of organic chemistry using a molecular drawing and modeling software package interfaced with a polymer database, which can predict polymer properties based on their structure. SciPolymer/Alchemy 2000 is a database of 630 compounds, any of which can be drawn in Alchemy, a molecular modeling and discovery program, by a click of the mouse. Students can design a new polymer in Alchemy, import it to SciPolymer, and examine its properties. The graphics are striking, so students are able to see real molecules, both big and small, and learn about their chemistry using Alchemy instead of a textbook.