CAREER: Wettability Engendered Templated Self-assembly (WETS) for Large Scale Multi-phasic Nanoparticle Fabrication

这个早期教师职业发展（Career）计划奖为大规模、简便和具有成本效益的制造一系列不同的单分散、多相、有机、微型和纳米颗粒提供资金，这些纳米颗粒具有几乎任何尺寸、形状和化学性质，使用一种称为WETS（润湿性生成模板自组装）的新颖而简便的技术。尽管近年来已经探索了制造双相（Janus）或三相颗粒的不同途径，但迄今为止还没有开发出一种简单的技术，可以制造任何所需化学成分的单分散、多相颗粒，并精确控制其几何形状。该项目计划使用WETS技术制造各种形状复杂、尺寸小至20纳米的纳米颗粒。我们的目标是生产50纳米以下的纳米颗粒，以利用该规模下可用的独特性能。其他目标包括：(i)制造自动化、快速、大规模制造的原型系统；（ii）研究合成多相颗粒在各种环境条件下的自组装；（iii）了解纳米颗粒添加对不同聚合物熔体流变学和热性能的影响。（iv）测试新型可生物降解多相纳米颗粒靶向和杀死卵巢癌和乳腺癌细胞的适用性。如果成功，这项工作将允许大规模生产一系列不同的多相有机纳米颗粒，这将影响广泛的领域，包括聚合物纳米复合材料、半导体技术、药物输送、生物技术、能源、化学和生物检测。该项目的推广和教育活动的动机是PI致力于增加STEM学科中代表性不足的少数民族的数量。这些活动包括为中学生开展为期五周的“周六工程探索”计划，为高中生进行多次动手演示，招募本科生和研究生参与研究，并将这项工作纳入不同的本科生和研究生课程。

This Early Faculty Career Development (CAREER) Program award provides funding for the large scale, facile and cost-effective manufacturing of a range of different monodisperse, multi-phasic, organic, micro- and nanoparticles possessing virtually any size, shape, and chemistry using a novel and facile technique termed WETS (Wettability Engendered Templated Self-assembly). Although, different routes to fabricate bi-phasic (Janus) or tri-phasic particles have been explored in the recent past, a simple technique that allows for the manufacture of mono-disperse, multi-phasic particles of any desired chemical composition, with precise control over their geometries, has not been developed thus far. This project plans to use the WETS technique to fabricate a wide variety of such nanoparticles of complex shapes and sizes as small as 20 nm. A goal is to produce nanoparticles that are below 50 nm to benefit from the unique properties available at that scale. Other objectives include (i) fabrication of a prototype system for automated, rapid, large-scale manufacturing, (ii) studying the self-assembly of the synthesized multiphasic particles under a variety of environmental conditions, (iii) understanding the effects of nanoparticle addition on the rheological and thermal properties of different polymer melts, and (iv) testing the suitability of the novel biodegradable multiphasic nanoparticles for targeting and killing ovarian and breast cancer cells.If successful, this work will allow for the manufacturing of a range of different multi-phasic organic nanoparticles on a very large scale that will impact a wide range of fields including, polymer nanocomposites, semiconductor technology, drug delivery, biotechnology, energy, chemical and biological detection. The outreach and educational activities of the project are motivated by the PI's commitment to increasing the number of underrepresented minorities in STEM disciplines. The activities include conducting a five week "Saturday Engineering Exploration" program for middle school students, multiple hands-on demonstrations for high-school students, recruiting of undergraduates and a graduate student in the research, and incorporating this work in different undergraduate and graduate courses.