CAREER: Sustainable and Eco-Friendly Biobased/Biodegradable Polymers

该学院早期职业发展（Career）基金提供的资金用于：(1)推进大规模生产、成本效益高、高性能生物基塑料部件的基本理解和加工技术；(2)设计、合成、表征和评估具有所需材料性能的新型可生物降解光聚合高分子材料，用于组织工程中的支架应用。第一个研究重点将建立科学基础，以更好地了解生物基塑料的独特组成、工艺、结构和性能关系，可以作为制定和加工具有成本效益和高性能的生物基聚合物混合物、复合材料和纳米复合材料的指导方针。第二个研究重点将导致具有广泛材料特性的可生物降解光聚合大分子的新家族，这不仅将填补组织工程对靶向组织再生合适材料的迫切需求，而且为阐明细胞功能与生物材料和支架特性之间的复杂关系提供了一种手段。这种新的生物材料家族也可用于药物输送和伤口愈合应用。拟议的研究活动将与各种教育工作结合起来。特别是，威斯康星大学密尔沃基分校的塑料项目将通过新的课程开发得到加强，包括本科生和研究生的研究，并与当地塑料行业合作。还将通过外联活动改善妇女和少数民族在工程方面的教育机会。更广泛的影响：第一个研究重点将扩大生物基塑料的应用范围，并帮助将今天的石油经济转变为21世纪更可持续和更环保的生物基经济，同时通过减少对外国石油的依赖来改善我们的国家安全。第二个研究重点将有助于改善世界各地数百万人的生活质量，降低治疗衰弱性疾病的成本。教育努力将导致威斯康星大学密尔沃基分校更强大的塑料项目，这将为当地塑料行业提供急需的劳动力，并将激励更多的女性和少数民族学生从事工程职业。

This Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) grant provides funding to (1) advance the fundamental understanding and processing technology for mass-producing, cost-effective, and high-performance biobased plastics components; and (2) to design, synthesize, characterize, and evaluate new types of biodegradable photopolymerizable macromers with desired material properties for scaffold applications in tissue engineering. The first research focus will build a scientific foundation to better understand the unique composition process structure property relationships for biobased plastics that can serve as guidelines to formulate and process cost-effective and high-performance biobased polymer blends, composites, and nanocomposites. The second research focus will lead to a new family of biodegradable photopolymerizable macromers with a broad spectrum of material properties that not only will fill the urgent needs faced by tissue engineering for suitable materials for targeted tissue regeneration, but also provide a means to elucidate the complex relationships between the cell functions and the characteristics of biomaterials and scaffolds. This new family of biomaterials also can be used for drug delivery and wound-healing applications. The proposed research activities will be integrated with various educational efforts. Especially, the plastics program at UW-Milwaukee will be strengthened through new course development, involving both undergraduate and graduate students in research and collaborating with the local plastics industries. Educational opportunities in engineering for women and minorities also will be improved through outreach activities. Broader impact: The first research focus will broaden the applications of biobased plastics and help to transform today's oil-based economy to a more sustainable and eco-friendly biobased economy in the 21st century while improving our national security by reducing dependency on foreign oil. The second research focus will help to improve the quality of life for millions of people around the world and reduce the cost for treating debilitating diseases. The educational efforts will lead to a stronger plastics program at UW-Milwaukee that will provide a workforce much needed by the local plastics industries and will motivate more women and minority students for a career in engineering.