Long & Medium Term Research: Transport of Fluid and Macro- molecules in Polymeric Gels

中长期研究：流体和大分子在聚合物凝胶中的传输。该奖项的推荐是根据外国英才中心的长期和中期研究计划提出的。该计划旨在使美国科学家和工程师能够在国外被证明是优秀的研究机构进行长期研究。奖项提供了开展联合研究的机会，并利用外国独特或必要的设施、专门知识和实验条件。这一奖项将支持劳伦斯·T·巴克斯特博士对印度为期12个月的访问，与ı国家化学实验室主任拉梅什·A·马谢尔卡博士合作！在浦那的主题是“聚合物凝胶中的流体和大分子的传输”。最近，NCL开发了高吸水性聚合物，即能够吸收数百倍于其自身重量的水或其他液体的聚合物。NCL设计了一种这样的聚合物Jalshakti，以提高植物在干旱气候下获得水分的能力。NCL的聚合物在许多领域具有潜在用途，如农业、医疗和个人卫生产品、控释药物输送和分离。研究人员计划模拟流体和大分子在聚合物凝胶中的传输，包括流体力学和空间效应，以及凝胶的热力学性质。他们将使用这个模型从微观特性预测宏观传输特性，如扩散率或水力传导性，以及浓度和压力分布。他们的目标是将结构与功能联系起来，获取热力学参数，并将它们合并到一个框架中，以分析动态运输效应。他们将通过NCL提供的标准技术，通过测量有效扩散率、渗透率和大分子浓度分布，对数学模型进行实验测试。研究人员希望，从可验证的模型中获得的对凝胶内传输的洞察将为聚合物设计提供合理的基础，并为有效药物释放或吸水或两者兼而有之的系统参数优化提供合理的基础。奖励建议提供资金，酌情支付国际旅行、当地出国旅行、津贴、受抚养人津贴(如果适用)，以及为美国本土机构提供250美元的固定行政津贴。

Long & Medium-Term Research: Transport of Fluid and Macro- molecules in Polymeric Gels. This award recommendation is made under the Program for Long & Medium-Term Research at Foreign Centers of Excellence. The program seeks to enable U.S. scientists and engineers to conduct long-term research abroad at research institutions of proven excellence. Awards provide opportunities for the conduct of joint research, and the use of unique or comple- mentary facilities, expertise and experimental conditions in foreign countries. This award will support a twelve-month visit by Dr. Laurence T. Baxter to India to work with Dr. Ramesh A. Mashelkar, Director of the National Chemical Laboratory ıNCL! at Pune on "Transport of Fluid and Macromolecules in Polymeric Gels." Recently, the NCL has developed super-absorbent polymers, i.e., polymers capable of absorbing several hundred times their own weight of water or other liquids. NCL designed one such polymer, Jalshakti, to improve the ability of plants to obtain water in arid climates. NCL's polymers have potential uses in many areas, such as agriculture, medical and personal hygiene products, controlled-release drug delivery, and separations. The researchers plan to model the transport of fluid and macromolecules in polymer gels, incorporating hydrodynamic and steric effects, as well as the thermodynamic properties of the gel. They will use this model to predict macroscopic transport properties, such as diffusivity or hydraulic conductivity, as well as concentration and pressure profiles, from microscopic properties. Their goal is to relate structure to function, to take thermodynamic parameters and incorporate them into a framework to analyze dynamic transport effects. The will test the mathematical model experimentally, by measuring effective diffusivity, perme- ability, and macromolecular concentration profiles, through standard techniques available at NCL. The investigators hope that insight into transport within gels obtained from>a verifiable model will yield a rational basis for polymer design, and for optimization of system parameters for effective drug release or water absorption, or both. The award recommendation provides funds to cover, as appropriate, international travel, local travel abroad, stipend, dependents' allowance if applicable, and a flat administrative allowance of $250 for the U.S. home institution.