CAREER: Synthesis of Novel Classes of Depolymerizable Polymers with Well-Defined Response Properties

在这个由化学部的大分子、超分子和纳米化学项目资助的项目中，宾夕法尼亚州立大学的斯科特菲利普斯将创造出新型聚合物，这些聚合物对特定的应用信号作出反应。 该方法是合成聚合物主链结构，可以在特定的链端引发条件下解聚，然后表征解聚过程的物理有机化学方面。 接下来，将各种保护基团连接到聚合物链末端，并研究化学刺激后解聚反应的引发。 教育计划包括：（i）在宾夕法尼亚州东南部的高中化学和物理课上进行演示和讲座;（ii）从这些学校招募学生参加宾夕法尼亚州立大学的夏季研究计划;以及（iii）从高中招募教育工作者参加宾夕法尼亚州立大学的单独夏季研究和专业发展计划。 该研究的其他更广泛的影响包括这些新聚合物类别对传感和诊断科学的潜在影响，以及可以化学重复使用的聚合物的长期潜在用途。塑料在日常生活的许多方面都有应用，包括食品包装，汽车和航空航天运输的结构材料以及轻质电子设备。 这项工作将探索与塑料如何分解成组成分子有关的基础化学。该项目的结果可能会导致新的设计原则，以制造可回收或化学再利用的塑料，并制造用于传感器或诊断应用的新材料。

In this project funded by the Macromolecular, Supramolecular and Nanochemistry Program of the Chemistry Division, Scott Phillips of the Pennsylvania State University will create new classes of polymers that depolymerize in response to specific applied signals. The approach is to synthesize polymer backbone structures that can depolymerize under specific chain end initiation conditions and then to characterize the physical organic chemistry aspects of the depolymerization process. Next, various protecting groups will be attached to the polymer chain ends, and initiation of the depolymerization reactions after chemical stimulus will be studied. The education plan involves (i) giving demonstrations and lectures to chemistry and physics classes at high schools in southeastern Pennsylvania, (ii) recruiting students from these schools to participate in summer research programs at the Pennsylvania State University, and (iii) recruiting educators from high schools for a separate summer research and professional development program at Penn State. Other broader impacts of the research involve the potential impacts of these new polymer classes on sensing and diagnostic sciences and the longer term potential uses of polymers that can be chemically reused.Plastics are found in many facets of everyday life, including food packaging, structural materials for automotive and aerospace transportation, and lightweight electronic devices. This work will explore fundamental chemistry related to how plastics decompose into constituent molecules. The results from this project could lead to new design principles to make plastics that can be recycled or reused chemically and to make new materials for sensor or diagnostic applications.