Functional Block Copolymers as Guides for NanoparticleAssembly: Preparation of Cobalt Nanoparticles from Alkyne-Functional Polymers

控制金属纳米颗粒在三维空间中的组织是开发纳米级材料的一个重要目标，这些材料用于包括能量存储、光捕获、催化和记忆存储在内的应用。实现这一目标的一个潜在途径涉及利用嵌段共聚物经历微相分离的趋势，其中每个聚合物嵌段占据本体材料中明确定义的空间区域。这种杂化材料的开发需要对特定功能嵌段共聚物的合成和行为的理解。 通过控制炔官能聚合物的合成来控制钴纳米颗粒的有序性和结构的持续努力将通过该资助继续进行。本研究要解决的基本问题涉及了解如何控制炔官能嵌段共聚物的结构可以控制钴（和其他）纳米颗粒的大小和形状。理解这些关系将指导后续的努力，以制备聚合物-无机杂化物含有多种类型的nanoparticle.These问题将通过选定的炔官能嵌段共聚物的库的建设，然后通过检查其相行为作为聚合物的大小，组成和钴负载的函数来处理。 随后将研究这些变量对所得材料的磁性和聚合物-钴界面的性质的影响。将利用这些系统中的炔官能聚合物在温和条件下形成的物理交联来控制纳米颗粒表面官能化的程度。这项研究将进一步了解金属纳米颗粒如何在多嵌段共聚物的帮助下被纳入更大的组装体中，并将促进这些材料的未来应用。非技术摘要：该项目旨在增加对如何使用专门设计的有机聚合物分子来控制纳米尺寸的金属颗粒如何聚集在一起形成显示有用的磁性，电子和光学特性的更大材料的理解。 这种设计的材料在包括太阳能电池、电池、催化剂和存储器存储设备在内的一系列应用中具有巨大的潜力。 在本科，研究生和博士后水平的研究人员将参与这项研究，并将参与他们的研究在地方，地区和国家层面的科学会议，包括新英格兰聚合物化学研讨会，旨在让研究生有机会提出他们的研究，一个非正式的区域会议系列的一般公众的沟通。PI还将通过达特茅斯夏季充实（SEAD）计划，向资源不足的城市和农村高中的学生介绍大学和研究生阶段的科学研究机会。

TECHNICAL SUMMARY:Controlling the organization of metallic nanoparticles in three-dimensional space is an important goal for the development of nanometer-scale materials for applications including energy storage, light harvesting, catalysis, and memory storage. One potential route to this goal involves the exploitation of the tendency for block copolymers to undergo micro-phase separation in which each polymer block occupies well-defined spatial regions in the bulk material. Development of such hybrid materials requires an understanding of the synthesis and behavior of specific functional block copolymers. Ongoing efforts to control ordering and structure of cobalt nanoparticles through controlled synthesis of alkyne-functional polymers will be continued through this grant. The fundamental questions to be addressed by this research relate to understanding how control over structure of alkyne-functional block copolymers can provide control over size and shape of cobalt (and other) nanoparticles. Understanding these relationships will guide subsequent efforts to prepare polymer-inorganic hybrids containing multiple types of nanoparticles.These issues will be approached through the construction of libraries of selected alkyne-functional block copolymers followed by an examination of their phase behavior as a function of polymer size, composition, and cobalt loading. The effects of these variables on the magnetic properties of the resulting materials and on the nature of the polymer-cobalt interface will subsequently be examined. The physical crosslinks that the alkyne-functional polymers in these systems form under mild conditions will be exploited to control the degree of nanoparticle surface functionalization. This research will further the understanding of how metallic nanoparticles can be incorporated into larger assemblies with the aid of multi-block copolymers and will facilitate future application of these materials. NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY:This project aims to increase the understanding of how specifically-designed organic polymer molecules can be used to control how nanometer-sized metal particles come together to form larger materials that show useful magnetic, electronic, and optical properties. Such designed materials have great potential in a range of applications including solar cells, batteries, catalysts, and memory storage devices. Researchers at the undergraduate, graduate, and post-doctoral levels will be involved in this research and will participate in the communication of their research to the general public at scientific meetings at the local, regional, and national levels, including the New England Polymer Chemistry Workshop, an informal series of regional meetings designed to give graduate students the opportunity to present their research. The PI will also work through the Summer Enrichment at Dartmouth (SEAD) program to inform students from under-resourced urban and rural high schools about opportunities in scientific research at the college and graduate levels.