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。提供充足的卫生设施、安全饮用水和食物是社会面临的重大挑战。开发有助于水处理和再利用的低能耗、基于材料的技术是克服这些挑战的关键。水净化技术的改进，其中材料科学和化学将发挥至关重要的作用，需要在世界各地提供清洁的水。这个SusChEM研究项目的重点是设计，发现和开发用于先进分离应用的新型聚合物材料。具体而言，该项目的目标包括对用于高效水净化的新型纳米结构聚合物材料的合成，形态和结构-性能的基本理解。将受到这一基础聚合物材料研究影响的主要技术是水超滤和脱盐;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，对研究生、本科生和博士后研究人员的广泛培训也将是这些努力的一个重要成果。此外，将强调旨在激发学龄儿童对科学和工程的热情的推广计划的持续发展。技术概述在膜应用中的嵌段聚合物基材料的合成、自组装和实施方面已经取得了进展。在该研究项目中，将寻求重要且创新的新型合成方法来阻断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，并实施和测试源自这些材料的新膜将完成。两个独立但相互关联的项目的目标材料具有影响广泛技术的巨大潜力。其中一个主要的努力将是通过聚合诱导相分离的功能性嵌段聚合物的定制方法，作为超滤，水修复和金属螯合的强大纳米结构材料的前体。另一个主要的努力是集中在设计，合成，开发和应用新的高性能的电荷镶嵌膜的压电渗析从嵌段聚合物前体含有独立的阴离子和阳离子的nanodomains分离的机械鲁棒块。这两项工作将导致与嵌段聚合物合成和自组装相关的基础知识，并为开发用于先进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.