DMREF: Analysis and Optimization of Polymer Networks for Emerging Applications

聚合物在我们的世界中无处不在。许多应用要求使用重量轻但机械强度高的材料。为此，通过将单独的聚合物纤维互连来形成聚合物网络。为了能够制造出缺陷更少、性能更优异的网络材料，麻省理工学院的约翰逊和奥尔森教授试图开发实验和理论策略来制备新的聚合物网络并在分子水平上了解它们的结构。该项目旨在获得重要的基础知识，以指导生物医学应用、光收集和膜技术的下一代材料的设计。该项目的更广泛影响包括通过实验和理论之间的强有力合作，对研究生和本科生进行跨学科研究培训。研究小组还为中学生开发了关于聚合物凝胶的动手教学模块。在这个项目中，有三个互补的研究部分，由NSF化学部和材料研究部共同资助。第一部分旨在开发定量分析聚合物网络中缺陷的实验技术。第二部分试图了解网络拓扑和单体进料速率之间的关系，并开发新的理论和计算方法来预测网络拓扑与加工条件的关系。最终目标是开发一种利用光来控制网络拓扑的新方法。

Polymers are ubiquitous in our world. Many applications require the use of materials with lightweight, but high mechanical strength. For this purpose, polymer networks are made by interconnecting the individual polymer fibers. To enable the fabrication of network materials with fewer defects and superior properties, Professors Johnson and Olsen of Massachusetts Institute of Technology seek to develop experimental and theoretical strategies for preparing new polymer networks and understanding their structures at the molecular level. The project aims to gain important fundamental knowledge for guiding the design of next-generation materials for biomedical applications, light harvesting, and membrane technology. The broader impacts of the project involve interdisciplinary research training of graduate and undergraduate students through a strong collaboration between experiment and theory. The research team also develops hands-on teaching modules on polymer gels for middle school students.There are three complementary research components in this project that are co-funded by the NSF Division of Chemistry and the Division of Materials Research. The first part aims to develop experimental techniques for quantitative analysis of defects in polymer networks. The second part seeks to understand the relationship between network topology and monomer feed rate and to develop new theoretical and computational methods to predict how network topology relates to processing conditions. The final aim focuses on the development of a new method for controlling network topology using light.