Development of Zwitterionic Nickel Catalysts for Carbonylative Polymerization and Copolymerization of Ethylene and Cyclic Ethers

残留在地球表面的塑料垃圾造成的污染是一个大规模的问题。用可降解塑料替代目前不可降解塑料的一个关键挑战是简单的经济性：制造可降解塑料所需的原材料通常比当今不可降解塑料所用的原材料更昂贵。因此，在追求可持续性的过程中，非常需要廉价、容易获得并且对环境影响小的原材料。在这个项目中，贾博士和他在阿克伦大学的团队正在开发催化剂，生产在环境中可降解的塑料，并从低成本的原材料中获得。这些催化剂是基于地球上丰富的金属镍，为他的团队的研究增加了另一个可持续的特征。贾博士积极参与外展活动，让学生参与科学，技术，工程和数学（STEM）学科。这些活动包括在贾博士的实验室进行暑期研究实习，旨在为高中生，特别是那些经济困难的学生提供科学研究机会，从而鼓励他们对STEM职业的兴趣。在NSF化学部化学催化计划的资助下，阿克伦大学的贾博士正在开发新型催化羰基化聚合，用于从具有非常不同反应性的共聚单体合成主链中具有各种有机羰基官能团的聚合物（例如，乙烯和环氧乙烷）。该研究的重点是这些催化聚合的机理理解，镍催化剂的开发遵循两性离子的设计原则，并评估新催化剂的性能。贾博士积极参与STEM外展计划。他的外展活动侧重于为经济贫困背景的学生提供机会，并招募他们进入STEM领域。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The pollution caused by plastic waste lingering on the Earth's surface is a problem of massive scale. A key challenge in replacing current nondegradable plastics with those that are degradable is simple economics: the raw materials needed to make degradable plastics are often more expensive than those used in today's nondegradable plastics. Raw materials that are inexpensive, readily available, and have low environmental impact are thus highly desirable in the quest for sustainability. In this project, Dr. Jia and his team at the University of Akron are developing catalysts that produce plastics that are degradable in the environment and derived from low-cost raw materials. The catalysts are based on the earth-abundant metal, nickel, adding another sustainable feature to his group's research. Dr. Jia is actively engaged in outreach activities to engage students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) disciplines. These activities include summer research internships in Dr. Jia's laboratory and are directed at providing scientific research opportunities for high school students, in particular those who are economically underprivileged, thereby encouraging their interest in STEM careers. With funding from the Chemical Catalysis Program of the NSF Division of Chemistry, Dr. Jia of the University of Akron is developing novel catalytic carbonylative polymerizations for the synthesis of polymers with various organic carbonyl functional groups in their backbones from co-monomers with vastly dissimilar reactivities (e.g., ethylene and ethylene oxide). The research is focusing on the mechanistic understanding of these catalytic polymerizations, the development of nickel catalysts following zwitterionic design principles, and the evaluation of the performance of the new catalysts. Dr. Jia is actively engaged in STEM outreach programs. His outreach activities focus on providing opportunities to students with economically underprivileged backgrounds and recruiting them into STEM fields.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.