Engineered Ceramic-Organic Interfaces: Properties and Applications

工程有机陶瓷界面为材料合成提供了丰富的机会。此外，研究有机-无机材料的形成和性质提供了对这些不同组分在纳米级和微观尺度上的相互作用的更好理解。从有机自组装单分子层（SAMs）的水溶液形成的陶瓷薄膜，这个GOALI研究计划的重点，构成了一个几何简化和化学通用的模型配置与重要的技术应用。该研究将研究这些系统的三个方面：1）解决方案优化; 2）衬底工程;和3）工艺设计，针对经济，环境友好的纳米晶陶瓷薄膜的合成。有待研究的具体系统包括：用于颜料的陶瓷颗粒上的铝硅酸盐涂层;用作透明半导体的铟锡氧化物薄膜;以及用于催化应用的钒钛氧化物。要利用的主要理论和实验工具包括Gorer-Hodes理论的临界溶液比，陶瓷-有机界面力的测量，使用原子力显微镜，和原位转换的有机表面功能。将陶瓷与有机物质结合在一起的联合收割机材料的范围从油漆、轮胎、骨头和柔性磁铁等不可或缺的熟悉物体到用于光学、电子、传感器、催化剂、涂层和生物医学应用的创新有机-无机纳米复合材料。这项研究计划将使用两纳米厚的有机层作为“底漆”，以开发低成本，节能，环保的陶瓷薄膜和涂层形成路线。该方法的多功能性反映在具体目标中，其中包括改进的油漆颜料（通过凯斯西储大学和舍温威廉姆斯公司之间的大学-工业合作），薄膜催化剂和透明半导体涂层。这项工作还寻求更清楚地了解工程有机表面和陶瓷之间的基本相互作用，以促进有机-无机复合工程材料的更广泛应用。教育计划的重要特点包括本科生每年参与为期一年的研究项目，与德国和以色列领先的研究小组积极合作（包括长期互访），以及学术和工业科学家在高级和初级水平之间的持续并肩合作。学术界与工业界的技术转让讨论正在进行中，涉及一项对工业合作伙伴具有重大商业潜力的活跃专利。

Engineered organic-ceramic interfaces offer a wealth of opportunities for materials synthesis. Furthermore, studying the formation and properties of organic-inorganic materials affords improved understanding of the interactions between these dissimilar components on nanoscopic and microscopic scales. Ceramic thin films formed from aqueous solutions on organic self-assembled monolayers (SAMs), the focus of this GOALI research program, constitute a geometrically simplified and chemically versatile model configuration with important technological applications. The research will study three aspects of these systems: 1) solution optimization; 2) substrate engineering; and 3) process design, directed toward economical, environmentally benign synthesis of nanocrystalline ceramic thin films. The specific systems to be studied include aluminosilicate coatings on ceramic particles for pigments; indium-tin oxide films as transparent semiconductors; and vanadium-titanium oxides for catalytic applications. The major theoretical and experimental tools to be utilized include the Gorer-Hodes theory of critical solution ratios, ceramic-organic interfacial force measurements using the atomic force microscope, and in-situ conversions of organic surface functionalities. Materials that combine ceramics with organic substances range from indispensable and familiar objects like paint, tires, bones, and flexible magnets to innovative organic-inorganic nanocomposite materials for optics, electronics, sensors, catalysts, coatings, and biomedical applications. This research program will use ultrathin engineered organic layers two nanometers thick as "primers" to develop low-cost, energy-efficient, environmentally friendly routes for forming ceramic thin films and coatings. The versatility of the approach is reflected in the specific objectives, which include improved paint pigments (through a university-industry collaboration between Case Western Reserve University and Sherwin Williams Corporation), thin-film catalysts, and transparent semiconducting coatings. This work also seeks a clearer understanding of the fundamental interactions between engineered organic surfaces and ceramics, to facilitate more widespread applications for organic-inorganic composite engineering materials. Significant features of the educational plan include annual involvement of undergraduate students in year-long research projects, active collaborations (including extended reciprocal visits) with leading research groups in Germany and Israel, and continuous side-by-side collaboration between academic and industrial scientists at both the senior and junior level. Academia-to-industry technology-transfer discussions are underway, involving an active patent with significant commercial potential for the industrial partners.