Triangle Center for Excellence for Materials Research and Innovation: Programmable Assembly of Soft Matter

三角材料研究与创新卓越中心(CEMRI)*将成为北卡罗来纳州罗利-达勒姆-教堂山(三角)地区材料科学和工程研究与教育的全国性资源，三角地区是一个蓬勃发展的技术和经济中心，学术界和工业界都高度集中了材料创新活动。三角CEMRI将专注于软物质组件的研究和开发，这些组件将用于可编程组装，以及由这些组件组装产生的功能和混合材料。它将协同利用北卡罗来纳州杜克大学、北卡罗来纳大学教堂山分校和北卡罗来纳中央大学的现有优势和互补优势，北卡罗来纳中央大学是一流的公立HBCU。三角CEMRI将通过产生(I)新的基本见解和理论理解，(Ii)新的设计原则，(Iii)胶体和高分子材料及其高阶组件的新应用和用途，以及(Iv)综合教育和推广计划，对软物质材料科学产生重大影响。理解、利用和利用与多组分颗粒和大分子组件聚集相关的动态过程是当前材料研究的重要前沿。由材料理论、模拟、合成、加工和应用领域的领先研究人员组成的两个跨学科研究小组(IRGS)将跨越这些前沿。还将建立一个种子资助计划，以允许将三角CEMRI的范围扩展到软物质研究的新领域。IRG1：通过全面交互设计的多组分胶体组装。IRG1的目标是从非常小的颗粒(胶体)的多组分悬浮液中发展对块状材料自组装的基本理解。该团队将专注于阐明管理通过设计制造材料的程序化胶体组装的基本规则。最终，这项工作将对混合光子和声子晶体、各向异性导电膜、自我修复材料、“智能”凝胶、超材料和其他先进工程材料的生产产生影响。IRG2：用于可编程自组装的遗传编码聚合物语法。IRG2的总体目标是建立“语法器”的设计规则，其阶段行为有助于将其自组装成超分子结构的编程。语法体是由排列在“词”(重复单位)内的一组“字母”(可以是氨基酸、核苷酸或合成成分的单体)组成的大分子，这些词又通过按照句法排列成“短语”(大分子)来排列。一种新的大分子设计范式将导致新材料被用作药物输送载体、致动器、纳米纤维、可切换膜、功能连接器和矿化、组织植入或3-D细胞培养的支架。三角核磁共振将协调整个研究三角地区专门材料研究设施的建立和访问。它的研究人员将可以使用全球研究资源网络，包括几个国家实验室和欧洲和亚洲的实验室。创新和技术转让将通过三角CEMRI活动得到加强，该活动旨在促进和促进与大小工业和非营利性商业化和创新伙伴的互动。培训、教育和外联活动的全面结合将利用研究三角地区在材料研究和相关领域的高水平奖学金。三角CEMRI在教育、培训和推广方面的总体目标是向从G5-12的学生、本科生、研究生、博士后研究人员到公共部门的受众注入新的相关性、激动人心和价值的材料科学、工程和技术教育。*美国国家科学基金会材料研究科学和工程中心(MRSEC)

The Triangle Center of Excellence for Materials Research and Innovation (CEMRI)* will be a national resource for materials science and engineering research and education in the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill (Triangle) area of North Carolina, a thriving technological and economic hub with a high concentration of materials innovation activity in both academia and industry. The Triangle CEMRI will focus on the study and development of soft matter components to be used in programmable assembly and functional and hybrid materials that result from the assembly of these components. It will synergistically leverage existing and complementary strengths of Duke, NC State, UNC-Chapel Hill and North Carolina Central University, a top-ranked public HBCU. The Triangle CEMRI will have a significant impact in soft matter materials science through generation of (i) new fundamental insights and theoretical understanding, (ii) new design principles, (iii) new applications and uses for colloidal and macromolecular materials and their higher order assemblies, and (iv) an integrated education and outreach program. Understanding, harnessing and exploiting the dynamic processes related to the aggregation of multicomponent particulate and macromolecular assemblies represent significant current frontiers in materials research. Two interdisciplinary research groups (IRGs) comprised of leading researchers in materials theory, simulation, synthesis, processing and applications will surmount these frontiers. A Seed-funding program will also be instituted to allow the extension of the Triangle CEMRI's scope to new areas of soft matter research.IRG1: Multicomponent Colloidal Assembly by Comprehensive Interaction Design. The goal of IRG1 is to develop a fundamental understanding of self-assembly of bulk materials from multi-component suspensions of very small particles (colloids). The team will focus on elucidating the fundamental rules that govern programmed colloidal assembly for materials fabrication by design. Ultimately, this work will have ramifications for the production of hybrid photonic and phononic crystals, anisotropic conducting films, self-healing materials, "smart" gels, metamaterials, and other advanced engineering materials. IRG2: Genetically Encoded Polymer Syntax for Programmable Self-Assembly. The overall goal of IRG2 is to establish the rules for the design of "syntactomers" whose phase behaviors facilitate programming of their self-assembly into supramolecular structures. Syntactomers are macromolecules that consist of a collection of "letters" (monomers that can either be amino acids, nucleotides or synthetic components) are arranged within "words" (repeat units), which are in turn arranged by following a syntax - defined as the arrangement of words - into "phrases" (macromolecules). A new paradigm for macromolecular design will lead to new materials to be used as drug delivery vehicles, actuators, nanofibers, switchable membranes, functional connectors, and scaffolds for mineralization, tissue implants or 3-D cell culture.The Triangle CEMRI will coordinate establishment and access to specialized materials research facilities across the Research Triangle. Its researchers will have access to a global network of research resources, including several national laboratories and laboratories in Europe and Asia. Innovation and technology transfer will be enhanced by the Triangle CEMRI activities aimed at facilitating and catalyzing interactions with both large and small industrial and non-profit commercialization and innovation partners. A comprehensive integration of training, educational and outreach activities will take advantage of the high level of scholarship in materials research and related areas in the Research Triangle area. The overarching goal of the Triangle CEMRI in education, training, and outreach is to infuse materials science, engineering and technology education with a new relevance, excitement and value to audiences ranging from G5-12 students, undergraduate students, graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, to the public sector.* an NSF Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC)