SusChEM: Block Polymers for Advanced Membrane Materials

缺乏可获得的清洁水是一个影响人类健康、农业、能源生产和整个环境的全球性问题。提供足够的卫生设施、安全的饮用水和食物是社会面临的重大挑战之一。开发促进水处理和再利用的低能源、基于材料的技术是克服这些挑战的核心。为了在世界各地提供清洁的水，需要改进净水技术，材料科学和化学将在其中发挥至关重要的作用。这个SusChEM研究项目的中心是设计、发现和开发用于高级分离应用的新型聚合物材料。具体地说，该项目的目标包括用于高效净水的新型纳米结构聚合物材料的合成、形态和结构-性能的基本了解。将受这项基础聚合物材料研究影响的主要技术是水超滤和海水淡化；然而，其他基于膜的技术将受益于所获得的见解。将积极寻求与工业界的伙伴关系，广泛培训一批不同的研究生、本科生和博士后研究人员也将是努力的重要成果。此外，还将继续发展一项旨在鼓励学龄儿童学习科学和工程知识的推广计划。技术总结已经完成了嵌段聚合物材料在膜应用中的合成、自组装和实施。在这项研究项目中，将寻求重要和创新的合成方法来封堵用于膜的聚合物材料，将使用一系列现代技术对所得材料进行完整和详细的表征，并将完成由这些材料衍生的新膜的实施和测试。两个独立但相互关联的项目的目标材料具有巨大的潜力，可以影响广泛的技术。主要工作之一将是通过聚合诱导相分离来定制功能嵌段聚合物的方法，作为用于超滤、水修复和金属封存的坚固纳米结构材料的前体。另一项主要工作集中在设计、合成、开发和应用新型高性能电荷镶嵌薄膜，这些薄膜是由机械坚固的嵌段分隔的含有独立的阴离子和阳离子纳米结构的嵌段聚合物前驱体组成的。这两项工作都将产生与嵌段聚合物合成和自组装相关的基础和基础知识，并为开发用于高级水净化技术的聚合物奠定基础。

NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARYThe lack of accessible clean water is a global problem affecting human health, agriculture, energy production, and the environment at large. Providing adequate sanitation, safe drinking water, and food are among society's grand challenges. The development of low-energy, materials-based technologies that facilitate water treatment and reuse is central to overcoming those challenges. Improvements in water purification technologies, for which materials science and chemistry will play a vital role, are needed to provide clean water around the world. This SusChEM research project is centered on the design, discovery, and development of new polymeric materials for advanced separation applications. Specifically, the project aims include the synthesis, morphology, and structure-property fundamental understanding of new, nanostructured polymeric materials for high-efficiency water purification. The principal technologies that will be impacted by this fundamental polymer-materials research are water ultrafiltration and desalination; however other membrane-based technologies will benefit from the insights gained. Partnerships with industry will be actively pursued, and broad training of a diverse cohort of graduate, undergraduate and postdoctoral researchers will also be an important product of the efforts. Moreover, the continued development of an outreach program aimed at enthusing school age kids about science and engineering will be emphasized.TECHNICAL SUMMARYStrides in the synthesis, self-assembly, and implementation of block polymer-based materials in membrane applications have been accomplished. In this research project, significant and innovative new synthetic approaches to block polymer materials for membranes will be pursued, the complete and detailed characterization of the resultant materials will be undertaken using a bevy of modern techniques, and the implementation and testing of new membranes derived from these materials will be accomplished. The target materials for two separate but interrelated projects have tremendous potential to impact a broad swath of technologies. One of the main efforts will be on tailored approaches to functional block polymers via polymerization-induced phase separation as precursors to robust nanostructured materials for ultrafiltration, water remediation, and metal sequestration. The other main effort is focused on the design, synthesis, development, and application of new high-performance charge mosaic membranes for piezodialysis from block polymer precursors containing independent anionic and cationic nanodomains separated by a mechanically robust block. Both of these efforts will result in fundamental and basic knowledge associated with block polymer synthesis and self-assembly and build a foundation for the development of polymers for advanced water purification technologies.