New Hydrogen Bonding Modules for Supramolecular Polymer Chemistry

在这个由化学系高分子、超分子和纳米化学项目资助的项目中，伊利诺伊大学的史蒂文·齐默尔曼将利用超分子聚合物化学工具创建一个实用的纳米级粘合促进剂系统。 该方法是进一步扩展多个氢键单元的工具包，并开发用此类单元功能化聚合物和表面的通用方法。 将评估粘合促进剂在宏观、微观和纳米水平上将两个表面粘合在一起的能力以及吸引力的可逆性和自愈性质。 更广泛的影响包括培训本科生、研究生和博士后研究人员，通过让女性研究人员参与该项目来扩大参与范围，以及继续为伊利诺伊大学化学系的 URM 建立夏季桥梁项目。 这项工作将增强我们对聚合物粘合剂和复合材料的基本了解。 粘合剂和复合材料以多种方式改善了人类的生活，例如，后者广泛应用于飞机、悍马车和航天飞机等各种高性能产品中。 迫切需要更先进的材料，包括可逆胶水以及具有更高强度和抗分层性的复合材料。例如，复合材料的断裂是导致哥伦比亚号航天飞机灾难的原因。 这些研究的结果可能会对工程粘合剂发挥重要作用的应用产生许多重要的长期影响，包括汽车、包装和航空航天工业。

In this project funded by the Macromolecular, Supramolecular and Nanochemistry Program of the Chemistry Division, Steven Zimmerman of the University of Illinois will create a practical system of nanoscale adhesion promoters using the tools of supramolecular polymer chemistry. The approach is to further expand the toolkit of multiple hydrogen bonding units, and to develop general methods to functionalize polymers and surfaces with such units. The ability of the adhesion promoters to adhere two surfaces together at the macro-, micro- and nanoscopic levels will be assessed as will the reversibility and self-healing nature of the attraction. The broader impacts involve training undergraduate students, graduate students and postdoctoral researchers, broadening participation through the inclusion of women researchers on the project, and continuing to build a summer bridge program for URMs at the University of Illinois, Department of Chemistry. This work will enhance our fundamental understanding about polymer adhesives and composite materials. Adhesives and composite materials have improved human life in innumerable ways, for example, the latter being found in a broad range of high performance products such as aircraft, Hummvees, and the Space Shuttle. There is a significant need for more advanced materials, including reversible glues, and composites with greater strength and resistance to delamination. For example, the fracturing of a composite material is what precipitated the Shuttle Columbia disaster. The results of these studies could have many important long term impacts on applications in which engineering adhesives are important, including automotive, packaging, and aerospace industries.