CAREER: Engineering colloidal assembly of nanoemulsions for material design

该职业奖支持实验，建模和教育活动，以探索基于模板合成材料的新方法。 目标是控制纳米乳液中液滴之间的相互作用，以便液滴组装成可用作模板以形成新材料的排列。 将通过向纳米乳液中添加聚合物来调节液滴之间的力，这将提供对纳米乳液的相行为和由纳米液滴形成的所得结构的控制。 作为第一步，将检查由水包油纳米乳液组成的模型系统，所述水包油纳米乳液含有末端吸附聚合物，所述末端吸附聚合物以可以通过温度控制的方式桥接液滴。 各种实验技术，包括微观流变学，等温滴定量热法和中子散射方法，将被用来表征纳米乳液结构和温度敏感聚合物引起的转变。 将进行建模研究，以估计液滴之间的相互作用如何被聚合物的存在所改变。 此外，新的显微镜技术将被应用于探测纳米乳液聚集体的结构动力学。科学家和工程师不断寻求新的方法来形成具有高度可控的物理和化学性质的材料。 基于纳米乳液的材料合成模板的开发将扩展可以通过模板形成的材料的范围。 例如，该项目的结果将为研究人员提供一种开发具有高度可控内部结构的多孔材料的新方法。 各种合成化学物质将被纳入纳米乳液形成过程，从而产生可用于催化、药物、食品和其他消费品的材料。 该奖项还将支持制定关于配方科学和工程的新课程和教科书，这将扩大本科生和研究生的课程。 此外，一个研讨会将向中学生展示胶体科学如何用于开发熟悉的消费品。 来自代表性不足群体的学生将通过UCSB校园的既定计划被招募到该项目中。

This CAREER award supports experiments, modeling, and educational activities to explore new ways of synthesizing materials based on templating. The goal is to control interactions among droplets in a nanoemulsion so that the droplets assemble into arrangements that can be used as a template to form new materials. The forces between droplets will be modulated by adding polymers to the nanoemulsion, which will provide control over the phase behavior of the nanoemulsion and the resulting structures formed by the nanodroplets. As a first step, a model system will be examined consisting of oil-in-water nanoemulsions containing end-adsorbing polymers that bridge droplets in ways that can be controlled by temperature. A variety of experimental techniques, including microrheology, isothermal titration calorimetry, and neutron scattering methods, will be used to characterize nanoemulsion structures and transitions induced by the temperature-sensitive polymers. Modeling studies will be carried out to estimate how interactions between droplets are modified by the presence of the polymers. In addition, new microscopy techniques will be applied to probe structural dynamics of the nanoemulsion aggregates. Scientists and engineers continually seek new ways to form materials with highly controlled physical and chemical properties. The development of nanoemulsion-based templates for materials synthesis will extend the range of materials that can be formed by templating. For example, the results of this project will provide researchers a new method to develop porous materials with highly controlled internal structures. Various synthetic chemistries will be incorporated into the nanoemulsion formation process, resulting in materials that could be useful in catalysis, pharmaceuticals, foods, and other consumer products. The award will also support the development of a new course and textbook on formulation science and engineering, which will broaden the curriculum for undergraduate and graduate students. In addition, a workshop will demonstrate to middle-school students how colloidal science is used in the development of familiar consumer products. Students from under-represented groups will be recruited to the project through established programs on the UCSB campus.