CAREER: Development of "Smart" Structural Nanocomposites Based on Interfacial Coupling and Local Field Enhancement

该学院早期职业发展（CAREER）研究资助计划通过利用纳米级界面日益占主导地位的作用，为研究聚合物纳米复合材料中的机电响应提供资金。拟议的研究将探讨偶极和离子基团在稳定纳米包裹体的分散中的作用，决定它们的取向并影响它们在主体聚合物中的逾渗网络。纳米复合材料介观结构的控制将通过偶极的存在和浓度、纳米夹杂物的性质和聚合物的形态来实现。此外，纳米内含物和聚合物官能团之间的相互作用将被调节以产生诱导极化或永久极化，导致电、机械、光学和热性质之间的耦合。理论上的理解将开发相关的结构和传感/驱动性能的微观结构，通过探索所产生的现象学响应的纳米复合材料。该职业计划的教育部分有两个主要项目，将正在进行的研究与以学生为中心的课程和基于建构主义教学法的指导项目联系起来。第一个项目涉及课程修订和设计的本科课程和研究生课程，分别。第二个项目“聪明女孩”是一个多层次的辅导方案，鼓励来自贫困农村地区的高中女生从事科学和工程职业。该补助金的中心任务结合了实验技术和理论方法，以深入了解明智选择的纳米复合材料系统中的夹杂物-夹杂物，夹杂物-基质和夹杂物-电场相互作用。预期的好处是，纳米夹杂物和聚合物之间的界面相互作用的基本理解将构成一个重大飞跃的功能性能优化的聚合物纳米复合材料的发展。具有多种功能的结构材料具有广泛的技术影响。该研究计划旨在进一步了解这些类型材料的基础知识，并推进我们对纳米夹杂物/聚合物相互作用的理解，以控制自感和致动，同时保持轻量化，强度和耐用性。

This Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) research grant proposes to provide funding to investigate the electromechanical responses in polymer nanocomposites by exploiting the increasingly dominant role of interfaces at the nanoscale. The proposed research will explore the role of dipolar and ionic groups in stabilizing dispersion of nanoinclusions, dictating their orientation and affecting their percolation network in the host polymer. Control of the nanocomposite mesostructure will be accomplished through the presence and concentration of dipoles, nature of nanoinclusions, and morphology of the polymer. Further, the interaction between nanoinclusions and the polymeric functional groups will be tuned to generate either an induced or a permanent polarization, resulting in coupling between electrical, mechanical, optical and thermal properties. A theoretical understanding will be developed to relate the microstructure to structural and sensing/actuation properties by exploring the resulting phenomenological responses in the nanocomposites. The educational component of this CAREER plan has two main projects that link the on-going research with student-centered curriculum and mentoring projects based on a constructivist pedagogy. The first project involves curriculum revision and design of an undergraduate course and a graduate course, respectively. The second project "SMARTGirls" is a multilayered mentoring program to encourage high school girls from underprivileged rural areas to pursue careers in science and engineering. The central task of the grant combines experimental techniques and theoretical approaches to gain insight on inclusion-inclusion, inclusion-matrix, and inclusion-electric field interactions in judiciously selected nanocomposite systems. The expected benefit is that a fundamental understanding of interfacial interactions between nanoinclusions and polymers would constitute a major leap toward the development of polymer nanocomposites optimized for a functional performance. Structural materials with multiple functionalities have broad technological impact. This research plan aims to further the fundamental knowledge of these types of materials and advance our understanding of nanoinclusions/polymer interaction to control self-sensing and actuation while maintaining lightweight, strength and durability.