CAREER: Enabling Morphology Control in Polymer Thin Films via Solvent Vapor Annealing

在下一代技术中，旨在设计更准确和便携的医疗诊断设备的技术；更快、更小、能存储更多信息的电子设备；在不牺牲容量或电力的情况下，更清洁的能源。具有可调纳米和微观结构形态的聚合物可以解决与实现这些目标相关的挑战，溶剂蒸汽退火（SVA）正成为控制聚合物形态的越来越重要的技术。本提案的目标是表明热力学平衡原理可以使SVA条件的先验选择，以指导旨在实现感兴趣的聚合物体系中特定自组装形态的实验。所提出的热力学框架和高通量实验方法将促进下一代聚合物材料的快速发现，提高设计聚合物的可及性，并使聚合物薄膜的形态控制能够解决健康、能源和环境领域的技术挑战。热力学平衡原理将用于使SVA条件的先验选择，以指导旨在实现感兴趣的聚合物系统中特定自组装形态的实验。PI计划进行旨在预测SVA过程中聚合物相行为的研究。她将运用热力学原理来描述和预测嵌段共聚物在这一过程中的相行为。提出这些热力学平衡原理是为了能够先验地选择SVA条件，以指导旨在实现聚合物体系中特定自组装形态的实验。该项目的目的是提出一种有效的制造方法来生产定制的聚合物薄膜，这可以极大地造福工业。在教育方面，建议的工作应该为本科生提供许多开展独立研究项目的机会，并激励他们中的一些人继续研究生学习。与女性工程师协会（SWE）开展的活动将有助于增加女性在工程本科课程，博士课程以及工业，政府和学术界领导职位中的代表性。具体来说，参加独立研究的本科生研究人员必须开展与研究相关的外展研讨会。这些由学生设计的研讨会将与杜兰大学现有的外展项目相结合，比如杜兰大学针对5至7年级学生的STEM女生项目。

Abstract - Albert - 1554555Among the next generation of technologies are ones aimed at designing medical diagnostic devices that are more accurate and portable; electronic devices that are faster, smaller, and capable of storing more information; and energy sources that are cleaner without sacrificing capacity or power. Polymers with tunable nano- and micro-structured morphologies can address the challenges associated with accomplishing these goals, and solvent vapor annealing (SVA) is becoming an increasingly important technique for controlling polymer morphology. The goal of this proposal is to show that thermodynamic equilibrium principles can enable a priori selection of SVA conditions to guide experiments aimed at achieving a specific self-assembled morphology in a polymer system of interest.The proposed thermodynamic framework and high-throughput experimental methods should facilitate rapid discovery of next generation polymer materials, improve the accessibility of designer polymers, and enable morphology control in polymer films to address technology challenges in the health, energy, and environment sectors. Thermodynamic equilibrium principles will be used to enable a priori selection of SVA conditions to guide experiments aimed at achieving a specific self-assembled morphology in a polymer system of interest. The PI plans studies aimed at predicting polymer phase behavior during SVA. She will apply thermodynamic principles to describe and predict the phase behavior of block copolymers in this process. These thermodynamic equilibrium principles are proposed to enable a priori selection of SVA conditions to guide experiments aimed at achieving specific self-assembled morphologies in polymer systems. The aim of this project is to come up with an efficient manufacturing method for the production of tailor made polymer thin films, which could greatly benefit industry. Educationally, the proposed work should provide many opportunities for undergraduate students to carry out independent research projects and inspire some of them to pursue graduate studies. Activities carried out with the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) will contribute to increasing the representation of women in engineering undergraduate classes, doctoral programs, and leadership positions in industry, government, and academia. Specifically, undergraduate researchers enrolled for Independent Study have to develop research-related outreach workshops. The student-designed workshops will be integrated with existing outreach programs at Tulane such as the Girls in STEM at Tulane program, which targets 5th through 7th graders.