Synthesis and Study of Covalently Bonded Self-Assembled Polymer Gel Nanoparticles

共价键自组装聚合物凝胶纳米粒子的合成与研究

• 批准号: 0102468
• 负责人: Zhibing Hu
• 金额: $ 27.8万
• 依托单位: University of North Texas
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2001
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2001-06-01 至 2005-05-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0102468&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Synthesis; Study; Covalently; Bonded; Self

The search for novel macromolecular structures is at the core of innovation in macromolecular science and engineering and is the long-term goal of our research. Polymer gels are a unique class of macromolecular networks that contain a large fraction of solvent such as water within their structure. Most current research on structures of polymer gels has focused on either bulk gels or microgels. The objective of this work is to create nanostructured bulk polymer gels and correlate such structures to their physical properties. The central idea is to first synthesize monodispersed polymer gel nanoparticles, then self-assemble them into 3D networks, and eventually covalently bond them. The covalent bonding contributes to the structural stability, while self-assembly provides the with crystal structures that diffract light, resulting in colors. The self-assembled structure of the PI's systems are further enriched by their two-level structural hierarchy: the primary network consists of crosslinked polymer chains inside each nanoparticle, while the secondary network is a crosslinked system of the nanoparticles. As a feasibility study, the PI's synthesized such a material that contains 97 wt% water, displays a striking iridescence but is soft and flexible. The PI's approach consists of four components. First, several representative polymer gel nanoparticles such as N-isopropylacrylamide and hydroxypropyl cellulose will be synthesized and characterized by light scattering methods as model building blocks. Second, the nanoparticles will be self-assembled into various structures. Third, various reaction schemes will be used to covalently bond these assemblies. Fourth, the physical properties of the networks, including covalent bonding, mesh size, two-level structural hierarchy, periodic structures, and elasticity, will be investigated using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, chromatography, UV-visible spectroscopy, and light scattering methods.%%%This work, if successful, will provide a framework to generate stable periodic 3D structures with varying feature sizes in macromolecular materials. It allows us to obtain useful functionality not only from the constituent building blocks but also from the long-range ordering that characterizes these structures. Creating such nanostructured material may also be of importance in technological applications including controlled drug delivery, biomaterials, sensors, devices, chromatography, bio-adhesives, and displays. Both undergraduate and graduate students will participate in this research. They will gain valuable skills in interdisciplinary research and development in macromolecular science and nanotechnology.

寻找新的大分子结构是大分子科学和工程创新的核心，也是我们研究的长期目标。 聚合物凝胶是一类独特的大分子网络，其结构中含有大部分溶剂，如水。 目前对聚合物凝胶结构的研究主要集中在本体凝胶和微凝胶上。 这项工作的目的是创建纳米结构的本体聚合物凝胶和相关的结构，其物理性能。 其核心思想是首先合成单分散的聚合物凝胶纳米粒子，然后将它们自组装成3D网络，并最终将它们共价键合。 共价键有助于结构稳定性，而自组装提供了吸收光的晶体结构，从而产生颜色。 PI系统的自组装结构通过其两级结构层次进一步丰富：初级网络由每个纳米颗粒内部的交联聚合物链组成，而次级网络是纳米颗粒的交联系统。 作为一项可行性研究，PI合成了这样一种材料，它含有97wt%的水，显示出惊人的彩虹色，但柔软而柔韧。 PI的方法由四个部分组成。 首先，几个代表性的聚合物凝胶纳米粒子，如N-异丙基丙烯酰胺和羟丙基纤维素将被合成和表征的光散射方法作为模型构建块。 第二，纳米颗粒将自组装成各种结构。 第三，将使用各种反应方案来共价键合这些组装体。 第四，将使用傅里叶变换红外（FTIR）光谱、色谱、紫外-可见光谱和光散射方法研究网络的物理性质，包括共价键合、网格尺寸、两级结构层次、周期性结构和弹性。这项工作，如果成功的话，将提供一个框架，以产生稳定的周期性的3D结构与不同的特征尺寸的高分子材料。 它使我们能够获得有用的功能，不仅从组成的积木，但也从长程有序，这些结构的特点。 产生这种纳米结构材料在包括受控药物递送、生物材料、传感器、装置、色谱法、生物粘合剂和显示器的技术应用中也可能是重要的。 本科生和研究生都将参与这项研究。 他们将获得大分子科学和纳米技术跨学科研究和开发的宝贵技能。