Biomimetic Fabrication and Catalytic Application of Pd Nanoparticle Networks

知识专长：大自然已经为生物体提供了产生具有独特和特定组成的复杂结构纳米结构的能力。 在某些情况下，这些结构的制备是由肽介导的，肽可以使纳米结构成核、生长和钝化，对组成具有高度特异性控制。 为了在实验室中模拟这些自然过程，科学家们从生物有机体中分离出肽，并通过合成组合方法制备它们。 后者的策略是有前途的，因为它们模仿生物学方法;然而，这些仿生材料的功能程度，以及它们的结构/功能关系，还没有很好地理解。 该提案的目标是开发用于生产复杂功能材料的仿生方法。 第一个目标是探索肽的基于形状的合成能力。PI将采用生物硅化过程中涉及的硅藻的自组装R5肽来模板化非球形Pd纳米材料的制造。 第二个目标集中于这些结构的催化活性，其中无机组分可能被封装在肽框架内，这可能充当催化反应性的选择性门。 最后的目标是探索这些材料的异构系统的转换。 通过将材料附着在碳纳米管（CNT）上，该复合材料可用于催化剂和结构的容易分离，以探测催化机理。更广泛的影响：PI将致力于提高肯塔基州大学化学专业学生的留存率，使用基于科学的电影作为一种方法来吸引学生的兴趣和注意力。 保留是化学系，其中保留率低于大学平均水平的重大关切。学生保留率低的主要原因被认为是班级规模过大，导致缺乏人情味的气氛。 对于化学专业的学生来说，他们在课程的前两年的教学中有很大一部分是在大型讲座中。为了帮助解决这个问题，PI建议开发一个化学系电影系列，旨在刺激各级学生与化学教师之间的互动。 PI是美国化学学会学生附属机构的教师顾问。 在附属机构会议的背景下，将放映涉及当前科学问题和科学政策问题的电影。 在每一次这样的介绍之后，将举行一个公开论坛，由电影主题领域的专家主持。 希望通过这项活动，让学生思考所涉及的科学问题和科学在社会中的重要性，并提高学生对追求化学专业的机会的认识。 同时，学生将更好地了解校园内广泛的教师，研究机会和其他资源。

INTELLECTUAL MERIT: Nature has provided organisms with the ability to produce intricate architectural nanostructures of unique and specific compositions. In some cases, preparation of these structures is mediated by peptides that can nucleate, grow, and passivate nanostructures with high specific control over the composition. In order to mimic these natural processes in the laboratory, scientists have isolated peptides from biological organisms and have also prepared them by synthetic combinatorial methods. The latter strategies are promising as they mimic biological methods; however, the degree of functionality of these biomimetic materials, and their structure/function relationship, is not well understood. The goal of this proposal is to develop biomimetic methods for the production of complex functional materials. The first objective is to explore the shape-based synthetic capabilities of peptides. The PI will employ the self-assembling R5 peptide of diatoms implicated in the biosilicification process to template the fabrication of non-spherical Pd nanomaterials. The second objective focuses on the catalytic activity of these structures in which the inorganic components are likely to be encapsulated within the peptide framework, which may act as a selective gate for catalytic reactivity. The final objective explores the conversion of these materials to heterogeneous systems. By attaching the materials on carbon nanotubes (CNT), the composites could be used for facile separation of the catalysts as well as structures to probe the catalytic mechanism.BROADER IMPACTS: The PI will work to improve the retention rate of Chemistry students at the University of Kentucky using science based cinema as a method to capture student interest and attention. Retention is of significant concern in the Chemistry Department, where retention rates fall below the University average. The principal reasons for low student retention are thought to be large class sizes that lead to an impersonal atmosphere. For Chemistry majors a substantial portion of their instruction during their first two years within the program is in large lecture classes. To help counteract this problem, the PI proposes to develop a Chemistry Department cinema series designed to stimulate interactions between students at all levels with Chemistry faculty. The PI is the faculty advisor for the Student Affiliates of the American Chemical Society. In the context of the Affiliates meetings, films will be presented that address current scientific issues and issues of science policy. Following each such presentation an open forum will be held, led by experts in the topic areas of the film. It is hoped through this activity to engage the students in thinking about the scientific issues involved and the importance of science in society and to increase the students' awareness of the opportunities that pursuit of the Chemistry major can open to them. At the same time, the students will become better acquainted with the wide range of faculty, research opportunities, and other resources available to them on the campus.