Formation of Nanostructures in Hydrogels

9612386 Chu本研究旨在通过利用水凝胶中组织良好的微不均匀性来开发和研究金属纳米颗粒。 提出了两种类型的这种微观非均相性：研究由于疏水/疏水相互作用的竞争而具有微相分离的弱电荷的疏水水凝胶，以及可以形成高度有序的超分子纳米/微米结构的水凝胶/表面活性剂系统。 金属离子可以被贵金属或稀土离子取代，然后其随后的还原将导致在凝胶或微凝胶颗粒内形成金属纳米颗粒。 水显然是许多反应的最佳溶剂选择，包括环境考虑，在水介质中发生的广泛催化反应的潜在用途，以及生物应用的可能性。 在凝胶内合成金属纳米颗粒，其可以在水中强烈溶胀，这应该是非常有用的，因为高度响应的介质对外部水溶液的任何变化具有高的敏感性。 我们的目标是控制金属纳米颗粒的尺寸和形状，以及聚合物的性质，如网眼尺寸，以调节金属纳米颗粒和表面的催化活性。 这项研究是在纳米技术领域，应该有助于为聚电解质，凝胶和纳米颗粒的设计和环保意识的加工奠定基础。 ***

9612386 Chu This research aims to develop and study metal nanoparticles by taking advantage of the well-organized microheterogeneities in hydrogels. Two types of such microheterogeneities are proposed: the study of weakly charged polyelectrolyte hydrogels with microphase separation due to the competition of polyelectrolyte/hydrophobic interactions, and hydrogel/surfactant systems which can form highly ordered supramolecular nano/microstructures. The metal ions can be replaced by noble or rare earth ions whose subsequent reduction will then bring to the formation of metallic nanoparticles inside the gels or microgel particles. Water is obviously the best choice as a solvent for a number of reasions, including environmental considerations, potential use for widespread catalytic reactions which take place in aqueous media, and the possibility for biological applications. The synthesis of metal nanoparticles within the gels which can swell intensively in water should be very useful, because the highly responsive medium has a high susceptibility to any changes of the external aqueous solution. We aim to control the size and the shape of metal nonoparticles, as well as the polymer properties, such as mesh size, in order to regulate the catalytic activity of metal nanoparticles and surfaces. %%% This research is in the area of nanotechnology and should help to lay the foundation for design and environmentally conscious processing of polyelectrolytes, gels, and nanoparticles. ***