CAREER: A Multiscale Strategy for Nano- and Bio- Structures: Deformation, Defects, and Electromechanics

该学院早期职业发展计划奖的研究目标是研究使用基本结构对称性对纳米技术和生命科学的重要系统中的结构缺陷进行多尺度计算。焦点纳米结构是碳纳米管和石墨烯，焦点生物结构是DNA分子和脂膜。结构缺陷可以产生巨大的影响：例如，带有结的碳纳米管网络可以作为柔软的和超轻重量的机电材料；石墨烯中的空洞可能会导致故障，甚至使非压电性完美石墨烯具有压电性；DNA中的机械扭结可以影响电子传输，从而影响生物功能；生物分子进入细胞的基本途径是通过在脂膜中形成缺陷。该研究战略将使用这些不同系统中潜在结构对称性的统一描述来实现缺陷性质的多尺度计算，特别是缺陷在变形和电子传输中的作用。该项目的成果将包括复杂生物和纳米结构的新方法，重点研究的科学见解可以为设计和优化具有复杂结构的新材料提供策略。这个项目计划了一些与研究紧密结合的教育活动。这包括一个新的基于对称性和集体行为的国家工程师周展览；让本科生参与拟议的研究；培训一名博士生；开发关于“多尺度建模”的跨学科研究生课程；以及就与该项目相关的主题组织会议。

The research objective of this Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Program award is to investigate the use of fundamental structural symmetries for multiscale calculations of structural defects in systems of importance to nanotechnology and life sciences. The focus nanostructures are carbon nanotubes and graphene, and the focus biological structures are DNA molecules and lipid membranes. Structural defects can have huge impacts: for example, carbon nanotube networks with junctions can behave as soft and ultra-low-weight electromechanical materials; voids in graphene can cause failure, or even enable new properties such as piezoelectricity in non-piezoelectric perfect graphene; mechanical kinks in DNA can affect electron transport and consequently biological function; and the exit and entry of biomolecules to the cell is essentially through the formation of defects in lipid membranes. The research strategy will use a unifying description of the underlying structural symmetries in these various systems to enable multiscale calculations of defect properties, in particular the role of defects in deformation and electron transport.The outcomes of the project will include new methods for complex bio- and nano-structures, and the scientific insights of the focus studies can provide strategies for designing and optimizing new materials with complex structure. This project plans a number of educational activities that are closely integrated with the research. This includes a new National Engineer Week exhibit based on symmetry and collective behavior; involving undergraduates in the proposed research; training a PhD student; the development of interdisciplinary graduate courses on "Multiscale Modeling"; and the organization of conference sessions on topics related to the project.