CAREER: Adhesion of Patterned Polymer Interfaces

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The adhesion of polymers underpins numerous applications ranging from MEMS to tissue engineering. The complex relationships between surface chemistry, viscoeleastic properties, and spatial heterogeneities create unique challenges in developing fundamental principles to actively guide surface-driven phenomena, such as directed cell growth. This career program aims to develop novel, yet practical, patterns of surface chemistry, molecular architecture, and topography to not only control, but also understand, the fundamental principles of polymer adhesion.This research will impact future technologies while also advancing the fundamental knowledge of polymer adhesion. Specifically, the systematic control of patterns will be used to determine the physical relationship between the spatial frequency of heterogeneities and the activated mechanism of molecular dissipation in the near-surface material. The length scale of the surface patterns will provide insight into the primary length scales for the controlling mechanism of adhesion for soft-polymer architectures. The use of surface chemical and compositional patterns will probe the influence of neighboring polymer domains on the screening, or confinement, of the adhesion of local polymer molecules. The overall program will work toward the development of a unifying relationship between topography, surface chemistry, and polymer rheological properties in the context of polymer adhesion and tribology.%%%This Career Program is designed to have a broad impact on the education and future careers of high school students, undergraduates and graduate students, as well as on the success of future important technologies. The balance of practical purpose with fundamental science provides a stimulating environment for undergraduate and graduate research. This environment will be augmented with formal collaborations with industry and national laboratories, such as the National Institute of Standards and Technology. Specifically, the educational program will teach students the skills of project management, leadership, and mentoring through a dedicated program build around polymer science research. This program serves to strengthen industry and academia, while equalizing the opportunity for success for all populations, most importantly women and minorities. This equalization is targeted through the training of "soft" skills which often define career-advancement in both industry and academia. Furthermore, the incorporation of an outreach program as a training device for these "soft" skills will impact local underrepresented high school students by encouraging them to pursue science-related careers through an extended research experience. The technical research program will benefit society through the development of environmentally-friendly "smart" adhesives and anti-fouling coatings. Additionally, the power of combinatorial methodologies will be communicated to industry, academia, and most importantly future scientists through combinatorial-based research experiences for graduate and undergraduate students.