MRI: Acquisition of a Rheometer to Enhance Interdisciplinary Undergraduate Research and Education at Murray State University

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This award from the Major Research Instrumentation program and the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) provides Murray State University (MSU) with funds to purchase a rheometer to enhance undergraduate research and education in the Department of Chemistry and in the Institute of Engineering. The instrumentation will be used to study the rheological (stress-deformation) properties of polymers and plastics, polymer solutions, fluids, resins and other soft materials. Research teams in the Department of Chemistry conduct research to gain an understanding of the fundamental rheological properties of charge-containing plastics and materials critical to the advancement of applications in energy storage, electronic devices and 3D printing. The rheometer enhances significantly the instrumentation available for an expanding, multi-disciplinary program in polymer and materials science at MSU. The "hands-on" training that undergraduates will receive will lead to the improvement of up to five lecture and/or laboratory courses across chemistry and engineering. Since many of these students are from the rural counties of far-western Kentucky, northwestern Tennessee and southern Illinois, this cutting-edge experience will not only deepen their understanding of polymer and materials science but also increase the likelihood that these students gain meaningful employment in STEM-related careers in the region and/or better prepare them for pre-professional school. Finally, the rheometer will enhance MSU's ability to partner with regional R&D/manufacturing facilities thereby strengthening existing collaborations and enabling new ones.The acquisition of a new rheometer complete with environmental testing chamber, UV accessory and dielectric capabilities is supported jointly by the Major Research Instrumentation Program and the EPSCoR program. The rheometer will enhance a rapidly growing undergraduate research and educational program in polymer and materials science at Murray State University. It will enable real-time and post-cure rheological analysis of polymers, polymer solutions, fluids, resins and other soft materials. Specific projects that would be enhanced include the elucidation of in situ and post-cure rheological properties of poly(ionic liquid) networks (PILs) prepared by thiol-ene/yne "click" photochemistry, the determination of dielectric properties of these PIL networks (including insights into chain dynamics and ion mobility), exploration of dynamic polymeric systems, and the analysis of resins for 3D printing. For all of these projects, the acquisition of rheological data, in particular those obtained using the UV light guide and dielectric accessories, will provide structure-activity information critical to advancing several on-going and future application interests, including gas/ion separation/absorption membrane technologies, microfluidics, electrospinning and other electroactive devices. The rheometer will also allow for the educational advancement of students in several courses between the Department of Chemistry and the Institute of Engineering: Polymer Chemistry, including the development of a brand new Polymer Chemistry Laboratory course, Instrumental Analysis, Mechanics of Materials and Mechanics of Materials Laboratory. Beyond teaching and research, addition of the rheometer will further facilitate an active collaboration with a regional chemical company in order to improve several current commercial product lines.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.