Continuous Acoustic Assembly of Metallic Nanoparticles in Microfluidic Systems

微流体系统中金属纳米颗粒的连续声学组装

• 批准号: 1363483
• 负责人: Gabriel Lopez
• 金额: $ 54万
• 依托单位: Duke University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2014
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2014-07-01 至 2017-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1363483&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Continuous; Acoustic; Assembly; Metallic; Nanoparticles

This project will exploit the wealth of functional metallic nanoparticles developed over the last two decades by providing new continuous nanomanufacturing methods for directed assembly of nanoparticles into well-defined, multicomponent and multifunctional nanoclusters. The broad goal of this work is to develop a suite of new manufacturing tools for the scalable, continuous production of regular assemblies of metallic nanoparticles that are either spherical or polyhedral in shape. Directed assembly will be accomplished through the use of ultrasonic waves to pack nanoparticles together (acoustophoresis), after which the nanoparticles will organize into highly regular, packed structures to maximize the number of energy states available to individual nanoparticles (entropic assembly). An advantage of this method is reducing contamination. This work will develop the fundamental underpinnings of continuous nanoparticle assembly and translate them into prototype manufacturing processes. These processes will be capable of fabricating high-value products for a number of applications including medicine, biotechnology, photonics, catalysis, and security (anti-counterfeiting measures). To demonstrate the impact of this new technology, this project will create well-defined, multifunctional nanoclusters for high performance applications such as drug delivery and bioimaging.The fabrication of nanoparticle assemblies will be accomplished in microfluidic systems that include ultrasonic standing waves to achieve acousto-entropic assembly of the nanoparticles and photochemical crosslinking reactions to covalently stabilize the physically assembled clusters. To achieve these aims, several key tasks will be completed--(i) study of the fundamental processes leading to continuous acoustic and entropic assembly of nanoparticles, (ii) surface modification of the nanoparticles to allow multi-functionality, including colloidal stability, ligand and dye binding, and triggered crosslinking, (iii) development of new metrology tools that permit process optimization to maximize throughput, yield and purity, and (iv) study of model nanoparticle assemblies that have useful, multimodal functionalities in drug delivery and bioimaging to maximize the scientific and societal impact of acousto-entropic nanoparticle assembly. This research program will include basic studies to demonstrate new manufacturing principles that are unique to nanoscale phenomena, such as entropic assembly of particles in the absence of confining solid boundaries, while at the same time overcoming technical barriers, such as enhancement of the mass transfer limited kinetics typically associated with nanoparticle assembly. This project will also provide several innovations in manufacturing technology including continuous and scalable production of well defined nanoparticle assemblies in the form of heterogeneous particles, rods and filaments, as well as new nanomanufacturing process control methodologies based on acoustic impedance spectroscopy and laser light scattering.

该项目将利用过去二十年开发的丰富功能性金属纳米颗粒，提供新的连续纳米制造方法，将纳米颗粒定向组装成定义明确的、多组分和多功能的纳米团簇。这项工作的广泛目标是开发一套新的制造工具，用于可扩展的连续生产球形或多面体形状的金属纳米颗粒的规则组装体。定向组装将通过使用超声波将纳米颗粒包装在一起（声泳）来实现，之后纳米颗粒将组织成高度规则的包装结构，以最大化单个纳米颗粒可用的能态数量（熵组装）。这种方法的优点是减少污染。这项工作将开发连续纳米粒子组装的基本基础，并将其转化为原型制造过程。这些工艺将能够制造高价值的产品，用于许多应用，包括医学，生物技术，光子学，催化和安全（防伪措施）。为了证明这项新技术的影响，该项目将创建定义明确的多功能纳米团簇，用于药物输送和生物成像等高性能应用。纳米颗粒组装体的制造将在微流体系统中完成，包括超声驻波，以实现纳米颗粒的声熵组装和光化学交联反应，以共价稳定物理组装的团簇。为了实现这些目标，将完成几项关键任务-（i）研究导致纳米颗粒连续声学和熵组装的基本过程，（ii）纳米颗粒的表面改性，以实现多功能性，包括胶体稳定性，配体和染料结合，以及触发交联，（iii）开发新的计量工具，允许过程优化，以最大限度地提高产量，产量和纯度，和（iv）研究在药物递送和生物成像中具有有用的多模式功能的模型纳米颗粒组装体，以最大化声熵纳米颗粒组装体的科学和社会影响。该研究计划将包括基础研究，以证明纳米级现象所特有的新制造原理，例如在没有限制固体边界的情况下颗粒的熵组装，同时克服技术障碍，例如通常与纳米颗粒组装相关的传质限制动力学的增强。该项目还将提供制造技术方面的几项创新，包括以异质颗粒，棒和丝的形式连续和可扩展地生产定义明确的纳米颗粒组件，以及基于声阻抗谱和激光散射的新纳米制造过程控制方法。