Novel Properties of Liquid Crystal/Coil Diblock Copolymers via Tandem Interactions

9705271托马斯液晶作为材料在光学、屏障和结构应用中具有很大的前景。 在这个由DMR和MPS多学科活动办公室共同支持的GOALI/Group奖中，PI将利用特殊应用加工领域中液晶嵌段-螺旋嵌段共聚物和均聚物在嵌段共聚物结构和中间相自组织中的域形成和对齐的独特串联相互作用。 从他们之前的工作中，他们已经确定了两个通用的应用程序，这些应用程序将作为开发和测试这些串联相互作用的基本理解的工具：（1）开发生产柔性塑料液晶显示器和开关的知识和工程专业技术，以及（2）创造具有层状结构的新的热塑性液晶聚合物材料，高度不渗透的阻隔膜应用。 为了实现这些目标，他们计划利用微相分离，液晶性和应用领域的相互作用。 一个为期3年的计划是设想，与一个团队组成的Superex公司。每个大学PI有1名研究生和2名本科生研究员。 PI的专业知识的互补领域将确保通过调查的方法：托马斯，表征和性能;奥伯，合成和表征; Muthukumar，理论和建模。 除了该计划的具体科学和工程目标外，PI计划利用这种跨大学的重点研究小组合作来研究与该计划相关的学生的研究生和本科生教育的几种新方法。 研究生和本科生都将获得正常大学培训之外的研究经验：研究生将指导本科生，两组学生将通过与我们的工业合作伙伴的交流和参加商业课程来学习创业技能。 将通过联合研讨会提高沟通技能。 来自所有三所大学的学生将参加特别的务虚会，前往主办大学选择的地点。 这三所大学都在东北，这使得这种交流和访问非常可行。 他们还将鼓励研究生和本科生与其他大学团队进行交流。 每个机构和研究小组都有其独特的风格和传统，影响着研究的方式。 通过体验这些不同的文化，学生在这两个层次（研究生和本科）将受益。 被认为最成功的教育方法将在麻省理工学院、马萨诸塞大学和康奈尔大学扩展到其他本科课程。 ***

9705271 Thomas Liquid crystals hold great promise as materials in optical, barrier and structural applications. In this GOALI/Group Award, supported jointly by DMR and the MPS Office of Multidisciplinary Activities, the PIs will exploit the unique tandem interplay of domain formation and alignment in the block copolymer structure and self-organization of the mesophase by use of liquid crystal block-coil block copolymers and homopolymers in special applied processing fields. From their prior work, they have identified two general applications which will act as vehicles to exploit and test fundamental understanding of these tandem interactions: (1) to develop the knowledge and engineering expertise to produce flexible plastic liquid crystalline displays and switches and (2) to create new thermoplastic liquid crystalline polymer materials with layered structures for transparent, highly impermeable barrier film applications. To accomplish these goals they plan to exploit the interactions of microphase separation, liquid crystallinity and applied fields. A 3 year program is envisioned, with a team comprised of Superex Inc. and each university PI with 1 graduate student and 2 undergraduate researchers. Complimentary areas of expertise of the PIs will ensure a through approach to the investigation: Thomas, characterization and properties; Ober, synthesis and characterization; Muthukumar, theory and modeling. %%% Apart from the specific scientific and engineering objectives of this program, the PIs plan to use this inter- university focused research group collaboration to examine several new approaches to graduate and undergraduate education of the students connected with this program. Both graduate and undergraduate students will gain research experience outside the normal university training: graduate students will mentor undergraduates, and both groups will learn entrepreneurial skills through exchanges with our industrial partner and by taking business cou rses. Communication skills will be improved through joint seminars. Students from all three university groups will participate in special retreat-style meetings, traveling to a site chosen by the host univeristy. The location of all three universities in the Northeast makes such exchanges and visits very feasible. They will also encourage both the graduate and undergraduate students to carry out exchanges with other university teams. Each institution and research group carries with it a unique style and tradition that influences the way research is approached. By experiencing these different cultures, students at both levels (graduate and undergraduate) will benefit. The education approaches found to be most successful will be expanded at MIT, UMass and Cornell into other undergraduate programs. ***