CAREER: New Polymeric Material Design at the Interfaces with Biology and Catalysis

这项拟议的研究在两个界面上探索了新的聚合物材料设计：(1)材料和生物，(2)材料和催化剂。在第一个界面，高价值的先进聚合物材料通过模仿天然材料中使用的结构和策略而成为目标。肌肉蛋白质Titin的显著综合强度和韧性似乎来自于它们的模块化结构，这些结构包括一个线性的结构域阵列，其中每个结构域通过二次作用力保持在一起。合成聚合物将使用分子纳米结构来构建，这种结构模拟Titin的模块化、多域设计。这些材料将在单分子和整体材料层面上进行测试。在材料-催化界面的拟议研究旨在从简单的商业单体开发新的聚合物材料。在总结前人研究成果的基础上，提出了利用催化剂控制具有可调拓扑结构的聚合物，并通过催化设计具有非常规拓扑结构的聚合物的新方向。在合成工作的同时，将通过与校园和附近大学的化学家、材料科学家和工程师的合作来研究新聚合物的物理性质和潜在应用。%未来4-5年，PI的教育目标是在加州大学欧文分校建立一个强大的聚合物材料专业。目前该校区的快速发展和跨校区材料倡议为实施这一计划提供了绝佳的机会。已开始努力整合几个学科的聚合物科学课程，以促进跨学科的互动和合作。本科教育的目标是在介绍聚合物科学的基本概念和基本知识的同时，激发他们对聚合物的兴趣。将关注交互式教学方法，聚合物与我们社会的相关性，以及本科生的实验室研究。聚合物专业研究生教育的目标是为学生提供坚实的聚合物化学基础，通过对各种聚合反应的基本机理、热力学和动力学的深入研究，同时涵盖聚合物科学的主要研究领域和最新进展。这些广泛的主题将以跨学科的方式进行探讨，课程形式将被开发以鼓励更多的学生参与。除了课程开发，指导也在实验室、课堂和研讨会中发挥着重要作用。这项拟议的研究将增加对基于纳米级结构组织实现优异材料性能的分子机制的理解，并生产具有潜在生物医学应用的材料。深入了解这些材料的分子性能与其性能之间的关系，应该可以进行合理的材料设计。所提出的催化合成新聚合物的路线的研究有可能从简单易得的单体制备具有复杂拓扑结构的新的聚合物材料。

The proposed research explores new polymeric material design at two interfaces: (1) materials and biology, and (2) materials and catalysts. At the first interface, high value advanced polymeric materials is targeted by mimicking the structures and strategies used in natural materials. The remarkable combined strength and toughness of muscle protein, titin, appears to derive from their modular structures comprising a linear array of domains, in which each domain is held together by secondary forces. Synthetic polymers will be constructed using molecular nanostructures that simulate the modular, multi-domain design of titin. These materials will be tested a both single molecule and bulk material level. The proposed research at the material-catalysis interface is targeted at developing new polymeric materials from simple commercial monomers. Built upon previous successes, new directions are proposed to expand the scope of using catalysts to control polymers with tunable topologies via catalysis, and design of polymers with unconventional topologies via catalysis. In parallel to the synthetic effort, the physical properties and potential applications for the new polymers will be investigated through collaborations with chemists, materials scientists and engineers on campus and at universities nearby.%%%The PI's educational goal for the next 4-5years is to build a strong polymer materials program at the University of California at Irvine. The current rapid growth of this campus and the cross campus Materials Initiative provide an excellent opportunity to implement this plan. An effort was initiated to integrate the course offerings in polymer science across a few disciplines to foster interdisciplinary interactions and collaborations. The goal in the undergraduate education is to spark their interests in polymer during introducing the basic concepts and essential knowledge of polymer science. Attention will be paid to interactive teaching methods, the relevance of polymers to our society, and the undergraduate laboratory research. The goal in graduate polymer education is to provide students a solid foundation in polymer chemistry by vigorous treatments of the fundamental mechanism, thermodynamics, and kinetics of each type of polymerization while in the meantime cover major research areas and recent progresses in polymer science. These broad topics will be approached in an interdisciplinary manner and the course format will be developed to encourage greater student involvement. In addition to curriculum development, mentoring also figures prominently in laboratory, classroom, and seminar contexts. The proposed research will increase understanding of the molecular mechanisms for achieving excellent material properties based on structural organization at nanoscale and produce materials with potential biomedical applications. Insight into the relation between the molecular properties of these materials and their performance should allow rational materials designs. The proposed research on catalytic route to new polymer synthesis has the potential to make new polymeric materials with complex topologies from simple and readily available monomers.