Folded Supramolecular Copolymers

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Professor Marcus Weck is supported by the Macromolecular, Supramolecular and Nanochemistry Program of the Chemistry Division to study the formation of multiple synthetic non-biological polymers, which fold into secondary structures, into supramolecular block copolymers thereby creating materials with well-defined 3D architectures. The research design is based on the synthesis of a small library of telechelic polymers (building blocks) that contain noncovalent recognition motifs at their chain ends. Each building block is either helical, sheet-forming or a random coil. These building blocks will be self-assembled into supramolecular main-chain block copolymers yielding a single material containing multiple 3D architectural motifs. Systematic structure-property relationship studies to elucidate parameters of polymer chain lengths, block lengths, and recognition motif on the self-assembly behavior of the polymer building blocks will be carried out. The proposed study is a step towards the rational design of well-defined, 3D polymeric architectures, which has been postulated as a key requirement for the next generation of complex materials for a variety of industries including those in the electro-optics, energy, nanoscience and the medical fields. This project in polymer chemistry and nanoscience pairs cutting edge research with the training of undergraduate and graduate students and extensive outreach activities to enhance the understanding and teaching of polymer science to K-12 school children.