CAREER: Exploiting the Density Fluctuating Regime in Supercritical Fluids for Environmentally Green Polymer Surface Processing

该奖项是根据2009年美国复苏和再投资法案（公法111-5）资助的。该奖项的研究目标是在石溪大学开发一个综合教育和研究项目，旨在在环境友好的聚合物表面加工领域发挥主导作用。超临界二氧化碳（scCO2）是一种能量不稳定的密度波动系统。因此，当被限制在聚合物界面附近时，即使在焓不利的情况下，流体也会被驱动穿过界面进入聚合物材料。此外，由于这种现象似乎只是流体中密度波动幅度的函数，它也可能与特定的聚合物/流体组合无关，这有助于将密度波动的scCO2用作聚合物表面加工的新工艺环境。本提案所描述的研究将探讨密度波动引起的表面现象的潜在驱动力。将集成各种原位和实时x射线/中子散射技术，以形成聚合物与密度波动的scCO2之间相互作用的综合模型。这项拟议的活动将促进教育活动，旨在补充这项研究，更广泛地说，促进石溪大学的科学教育。该计划的第一个组成部分包括加强石溪大学化学工程专业的本科论文课程，鼓励他们将研究作为其教育的一个组成部分。该计划的第二个组成部分是为高年级本科生和初级研究生开设一门跨学科的实验课程，研究利用x射线散射来表征纳米结构。本课程的一个独特之处在于它将使用国家散射设施（在附近的布鲁克海文国家实验室），包括计划，执行和分析一组重点测量。最后一项倡议涉及一个国际（日本）合作项目。石溪的研究生将在日本获得宝贵的研究经验，并通过与不同背景和观点的日本教授和研究生的互动，扩展他们的知识超出他们的研究领域。总的来说，这些努力的目的是使石溪大学的科学界更具包容性，并为学生提供更多样化的体验。

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5). The research objective of this award is to develop an integrated education and research program at Stony Brook University designed to play a leading role in the field of environmentally benign polymer surface processing. Supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO2) is a density fluctuating system which is known to be energetically unstable. Consequently, when confined near a polymer interface, the fluid is found to be driven across the interface into the polymer material, even when the enthalpy is unfavorable. Furthermore, since the phenomenon appears to be a function of only the amplitude of the density fluctuations in the fluid, it may also be independent of the particular polymer/fluid combinations, facilitating the use of density fluctuating scCO2 as a new process environment for polymer surface processing. The research described in this proposal will explore the underlying driving force for the density-fluctuation-induced surface phenomena. A variety of in-situ and real-time X-ray/neutron scattering techniques will be integrated to enable to form a comprehensive model of the interactions between the polymer and density fluctuating scCO2. This proposed activity will promote educational initiatives designed both to complement this research and, more generally, to advance science education at Stony Brook. The first component of this initiative involves the strengthening of an undergraduate thesis program for Chemical Engineering majors at Stony Brook University which encourages them to perform research as an integral part of their education. The second component of this initiative involves the creation of an interdisciplinary lab course on nanostructure characterization using X-ray scattering for upper-level undergraduates and beginning gradate students. A unique aspect of this course will be its use of a national scattering facility (at nearby Brookhaven National Lab.) including planning, executing and analyzing a focused set of measurements. A final initiative involves an international (Japan) collaborative program. Graduate students at Stony Brook will gain valuable research experience in Japan and expand their knowledge beyond their fields of study by interacting with Japanese professors and graduate students of different backgrounds and perspectives. Collectively, these efforts aim both to make the science community at Stony Brook more inclusive and to give the students a more varied experience.