RUI: Polymer Nanocomposite Surface Modification and Characterization for Microfluidic Applications

RUI：微流体应用的聚合物纳米复合材料表面改性和表征

• 批准号: 0804213
• 负责人: Brian Augustine
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: James Madison University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2008
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2008-05-15 至 2010-04-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0804213&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: RUI; Polymer; Nanocomposite; Surface; Modification

Hybrid polymer-inorganic materials represent an important development in the polymer materials field due to the ability to tailor the physical properties of these materials with varying chemical composition and percentage of the inorganic component. This Research at Undergraduate Institutions (RUI) transition grant will address two main areas of intellectual merit. The primary area is a fundamental study of the physico-chemical properties of surface modified polyhedral oligomeric silsequioxane (POSS)-copolymer materials when exposed to plasma and chemical environments. These materials will be studied as they offer the possibility of controlling or changing the surface properties of coatings applied to polymer microfluidic ("lab-on-a-chip") devices. Materials properties will be studied using a combination of surface analysis techniques including x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), atomic and lateral force microscopy (AFM/LFM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), variable angle spectroscopic ellipsometry (VASE), infrared spectroscopy and contact angle measurements. Work with undergraduates will be centered for a ten week summer program on completing AFM and XPS studies commenced with NSF-RUI #0405345. The second major summer project is to further develop a rapid prototyping technique using photopolymerization of poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) microchips being developed in our lab. This novel technique allows for the in-situ fabrication of buried layer structures, copolymerization to produce POSS based substrates and multi-layer 3D device architectures for microfluidic applications. Device designs and specifications tested in this project will be developed in collaboration with Dr. James Landers' microfluidics group at the University of Virginia in the Department of Chemistry. Device testing will include electroosmotic flow (EOF) of POSS-treated devices and extrinsic Fabry-Perot interferometry (EFPI) measurements. This project addresses the technologically important field of biomedical devices and more specifically "lab-on-a-chip" microfluidic devices. The development of improved surface and coating materials is critical for the commercialization of these devices with applications including forensics and point-of-care medical diagnostics. In addition to the technical objectives of this project, a final objective is the scientific training of undergraduate research students in a highly interdisciplinary research environment. This project will involve the training of three undergraduate researchers in the materials science issues of structure-property relationships of polymers and surfaces. These students will be exposed to surface analytical techniques, vacuum science, microfabrication, polymer materials characterization and processing, and microfluidic technology and science. The participants in this program will also interact with graduate students and post-doctoral researchers in the Lander's lab at UVa through direct laboratory collaboration in order to better appreciate research at a major research institution. These activities help serve to broadly impact the pipeline of future scientists from undergraduates to the graduate level.

聚合物-无机杂化材料是高分子材料领域的一个重要发展，因为它能够根据不同的化学成分和无机成分的百分比来定制这些材料的物理性质。这项本科院校研究（RUI）过渡资助将针对两个主要领域的智力优势。主要领域是表面改性多面体低聚硅氧烷（POSS）共聚物材料在等离子体和化学环境下的物理化学性质的基础研究。这些材料将被研究，因为它们提供了控制或改变应用于聚合物微流体（“芯片实验室”）设备的涂层表面特性的可能性。材料性能将使用表面分析技术的组合进行研究，包括x射线光电子能谱（XPS），原子和侧向力显微镜（AFM/LFM），扫描电子显微镜（SEM），变角光谱椭偏仪（花瓶），红外光谱和接触角测量。本科生的工作将集中在完成AFM和XPS研究上，为期十周的暑期课程，开始于NSF-RUI #0405345。第二个主要的夏季项目是进一步开发一种快速原型技术，利用聚甲基丙烯酸甲酯（PMMA）微芯片的光聚合，我们实验室正在开发。这种新技术允许原位制造埋层结构，共聚以生产基于POSS的基板和用于微流体应用的多层3D器件架构。在这个项目中测试的设备设计和规格将与弗吉尼亚大学化学系詹姆斯·兰德斯博士的微流体小组合作开发。设备测试将包括poss处理设备的电渗透流（EOF）和外部法布里-珀罗干涉测量（EFPI）测量。该项目涉及生物医学设备的技术重要领域，更具体地说，是“芯片实验室”微流体设备。改进表面和涂层材料的开发对于这些设备的商业化至关重要，其应用包括法医和即时医疗诊断。除了这个项目的技术目标之外，一个最终目标是在一个高度跨学科的研究环境中对本科生进行科学训练。该项目将培训三名本科研究人员，研究聚合物和表面结构-性能关系的材料科学问题。这些学生将接触到表面分析技术，真空科学，微加工，高分子材料表征和加工，以及微流体技术和科学。该计划的参与者还将通过直接的实验室合作，与弗吉尼亚大学着陆器实验室的研究生和博士后研究人员进行互动，以便更好地了解主要研究机构的研究。这些活动有助于广泛影响从本科生到研究生水平的未来科学家队伍。