GOALI: Advancing Thermal Field-Flow Fractionation for Complex Polymers and Colloids

该项目由化学部的化学测量和成像计划支持。科罗拉多矿业学院（CSM）的Kim威廉姆斯教授正在开发热场流分馏（ThFFF）作为分离和表征复杂聚合物和胶体的通用平台。液体中的热扩散提供了一种分离和分析塑料和其他非常大分子的混合物的新方法。 该项目使用NSF资助机会学术联络与工业（GOALI）机制之间的合作威廉姆斯博士的实验室和陶氏化学公司。学术界/工业界的合作是结合分离科学专业知识的典范，这可能会导致对产品性能的见解。由威廉姆斯教授开发的外展计划为学习障碍（阅读障碍）的学生带来科学和发现，并在CSM的STEM教师教育计划中介绍未来的教师。学生与这些聚合物和胶体活动的纹理和视觉性质有很好的关系，因此，在落基山诵读困难青年营地开展了外展活动。这些低成本和安全的动手实验介绍给学生在干教师教育计划在科罗拉多矿业学校。 这项工作的更广泛影响包括通过更好的设计（更环保）产品带来的技术利益，以及在工业和学术环境中接受培训的学生和科学家的教育利益。超高分子量或超大聚合物和胶体表面表征是分析挑战。对于这些材料，目前还不存在确定分子量分布的可靠方法。这项工作的目标是开发和测试热场流分馏（ThFFF）的超大（100 nm或103 kDa）聚合物。 研究人员确定实验方法，提供额外的控制胶体的热扩散，并证明其用于表面组成/电荷分离和分析。 他们还确定了一个工作粒子热泳理论。由威廉姆斯教授开发的外展计划为学习障碍（阅读障碍）的学生带来科学和发现，并在CSM的STEM教师教育计划中介绍未来的教师。这项工作的更广泛的影响包括通过更好的设计（更环保）的产品，在工业和学术环境中接受培训的学生和科学家以及更有经验的未来STEM教师带来的潜在社会效益。这项工作产生的创新分析方法可能会影响与聚合物和胶体（天然，生物和合成）相关的科学和技术。CSM和陶氏科学家之间的密切合作提高了研究的影响力，并通过学生接触行业来培养下一代劳动力。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响力审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This project is supported by the Chemical Measurement and Imaging program of the Chemistry Division. Professor Kim Williams of the Colorado School of Mines (CSM) is developing thermal field-flow fractionation (ThFFF) as a versatile platform for separating and characterizing complex polymers and colloids. Thermal diffusion in liquids presents a novel way of separating and analyzing mixtures of plastics and other very large molecules. This project uses the NSF Grant Opportunities for Academic Liaison with Industry (GOALI) mechanism to for a collaboration between Dr. Williams' lab and Dow Chemical Company. The academic/industrial collaboration serves as a model for combining expertise in separation science, that may lead to insights about product performance. An outreach program developed by Professor Williams brings science and discovery to students with learning disabilities (dyslexia) and introduces future teachers in the STEM Teacher Education program at CSM. Students relate well to the textural and visual nature of these polymer and colloid activities and thus, outreach activities are carried out at the Rocky Mountain Camp for Dyslexic Youths. These low cost and safe hands-on experiments introduce to students in the STEM Teacher Education program at the Colorado School of Mines. The broader impacts of this work include technical benefits through better designed (more environmentally friendly) products, and educational benefits for the students and scientists who are trained in an industrial and academic setting.Ultrahigh molecular weight or ultralarge polymers and colloid surface characterizations are analytical challenges. Reliable methods for determining molecular weight distributions do not currently exist for these materials. The objectives for this work are to develop and test thermal field-flow fractionation (ThFFF) for ultralarge (100 nm or 103 kDa) polymers. The researchers determine experimental approaches that provide additional control of thermal diffusion of colloids and demonstrate their use for surface composition/charge separations and analyses. They also identify a working particle thermophoresis theory. An outreach program developed by Professor Williams brings science and discovery to students with learning disabilities (dyslexia) and introduces future teachers in the STEM Teacher Education program at CSM. The broader impacts of this work include potential societal benefits through better designed (more environmentally friendly) products, students and scientists who are trained in an industrial and academic setting, and more experienced future STEM teachers. Innovative analytical methods that result from this work may impact science and technologies associated with polymers and colloids (natural, biological, and synthetic). The close collaboration between CSM and Dow scientists improves research impact and develops the next generation work force through students' exposure to industry.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.