US-Austria Cooperative Research: Impedance Studies of Sol-Gel Materials

该奖项支持加州大学洛杉矶分校的布鲁斯·S·邓恩与维也纳工业大学工业电化学研究所的曼弗雷德·W·布莱特教授的合作研究。他们的研究目的是更多地了解凝胶在溶解、凝胶化和老化阶段的介电性能。他们将应用阻抗谱来提供有关凝胶发展和形态的信息，并更好地了解传输特性。加州大学洛杉矶分校的团队将负责合成各种凝胶。合作的奥地利团队为复阻抗的光谱测量和分析模型的开发提供了不同寻常的专业知识和专门设施。这一安排为在相同样品上应用宏观和微观分析技术提供了独特的机会。过去对溶胶-凝胶材料电学性质的研究主要局限于对干燥和烧成材料的研究。这项拟议的工作将探索凝胶在溶解和凝胶化的早期阶段的传输过程。正是在这些阶段，随着可移动离子的阻碍和结构刚性的改变，介电性能会发生实质性的变化。更好地了解输运性质与凝胶微观结构之间的关系将有助于他们在凝胶阶段之前开发出具有高阻抗的凝胶。这一结果将补充邓恩博士目前由国家科学基金会支持的研究，该研究使用发光光谱来监测局部化学和结构变化。这项研究的目的是将有机分子加入到溶胶-凝胶主体中，以“设计”新的性质。

This award supports Bruce S. Dunn of UCLA for collaborative research with Professor Manfred W. Breiter of the Institute of Technical Electrochemistry of the Technical University of Vienna. The objective of their research is to learn more about the dielectric properties of gels during their solution, gelation and aging stages. They will apply impedance spectroscopy to provide information about gel development and morphology and to gain a better understanding of transport properties. The UCLA group will be responsible for synthesizing various gels. The collaborating Austrian group offers unusual expertise and specialized facilities for the spectroscopic measurement of complex impedance and the development of analytical models. This arrangement provides a unique opportunity to apply macroscopic and microscopic analytical techniques on the same samples. Past studies of the electrical properties of sol-gel materials have been largely restricted to investigations of dried and fired materials. The proposed work will explore the transport processes of gels during the earlier stages of solution and gelation. It is during these stages that dielectric properties are subject to substantial change as mobile ions become impeded and relaxation times are altered by structural rigidity. A better understanding of the relationship between transport properties and gel micro- structure will help them to develop gels that possess high impedance prior to their gelation stage. The results will complement Dr. Dunn's current NSF-supported research which uses luminescent spectroscopy to monitor local chemical and structural changes. That research is aimed at the incorporation of organic molecules into sol-gel hosts, in order to "engineer" new properties.