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

在下一代技术中，有一些旨在设计更准确和便携的医疗诊断设备;更快，更小，能够存储更多信息的电子设备;以及更清洁而不牺牲容量或功率的能源。具有可调纳米和微米结构形态的聚合物可以解决与实现这些目标相关的挑战，并且溶剂蒸气退火（SVA）正在成为用于控制聚合物形态的越来越重要的技术。该提案的目标是表明热力学平衡原理可以使SVA条件的先验选择能够指导旨在实现感兴趣的聚合物系统中的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应该有助于快速发现下一代聚合物材料，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应对健康、能源和环境领域的技术挑战。热力学平衡原理将被用来使先验选择的SVA条件，以指导实验，旨在实现一个特定的自组装形态的聚合物系统的利益。PI计划旨在预测SVA期间聚合物相行为的研究。她将应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，使先验选择的SVA条件，以指导实验，旨在实现特定的自组装形态的聚合物系统。该项目的目的是提出一种有效的制造方法，用于生产定制的聚合物薄膜，这将极大地造福于工业。在教育方面，拟议的工作应该为本科生提供许多机会，开展独立的研究项目，并激励他们中的一些人攻读研究生课程。与女工程师协会（SWE）一起开展的活动将有助于增加妇女在工程本科班、博士课程以及工业、政府和学术界领导职位中的代表性。具体而言，参加独立研究的本科研究人员必须开发与研究相关的外联研讨会。学生设计的研讨会将与杜兰大学现有的外展计划相结合，例如杜兰大学STEM项目中的女孩，该项目针对的是5至7年级的学生。

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.