CAREER: Precision control for sustainable carbon nanotube manufacturing: Enabling next generation materials and defining the next generation engineer

1552993 plata该职业方案旨在通过综合研究和教育计划，将环境目标和传统的性能和成本指标纳入工程创新战略，从而改变全球化学和材料创新的方法。为了实现这一目标，PI提出了一项教育计划，培训下一代工程师在专家合作团队中工作，保持每个学科的学术严谨性，同时达到技术和环境设计要求的广泛目标。这是一个理想的平台，可以证明环境和性能目标的共同优化不会减缓推向市场的进程，而是提供一种新的工具集，可以提供变革性的进步并加速发现。需要新颖的先进材料来满足NAE的几个大挑战。碳纳米管特别适合解决水资源获取和可行的可再生能源这两个主要的环境工程指令。为了实现这些重要的应用，首席研究员（PI）提出了一个研究计划，以克服碳纳米管制造的限制：(1)揭示碳纳米管合成过程中碳-碳键形成的相关化学机制；(2)利用这种机制理解对纳米管形态和键放置进行精确控制，提高原子经济性，同时最大限度地减少不必要的副产物形成；(3)因此，在降低制造成本的同时最大限度地提高材料性能，同时最大限度地减少对环境的影响，从而为国民经济带来持续效益。如果成功，这项工作将有助于对多相催化和纳米制造领域的基本理解，并解锁解决世界水、气候和能源储存需求所需的未实现的变革性材料。最后，由于所展示的所有未来技术的同时优化平台的知识价值，这项工作可能会在工程创新领域产生深远和意想不到的好处。使用一种新颖的Mango Tango化学/反应器系统，PI提出碳前体控制反应产物，允许人们定制swcnts的手性以及表面化学。这将允许生产可用于各种应用的表面。在这个系统中，碳纳米管是在固定的衬底上而不是在流动的气体反应器中生成的。通过使用具有不同侧R基团的炔，PI可以产生各种不同的表面化学物质，并决定产品的手性。学生座谈会将解决工程专业学生在专业准备训练和公共沟通技巧方面的关键差距。

1552993PlataThis CAREER proposal seeks to change the approach to chemical and material innovation globally through an integrated research and education program that incorporates environmental objectives and traditional performance and cost metrics in engineering innovation strategies. To achieve this goal, the PI proposed an educational program that trains next generation engineers to work in collaborative teams of experts, preserving academic rigor in each discipline while simultaneously attaining the broad goals of the technical and environmental design requirements. This is an ideal platform to demonstrate that co-optimization of environmental and performance objectives will not slow progress to market, but instead supply a novel toolset that can provide transformative advances and accelerate discovery.Novel advanced materials are required to meet several of the NAE Grand Challenges. Carbon nanotubes are particularly well-suited to address two of the primary environmental engineering directives of water access and viable renewable energy. To enable these important applications, the principle investigator (PI) proposes a research program to surmount limitations in carbon nanotube manufacture via: (1) uncovering the chemical mechanisms associated with carbon-carbon bond building during carbon nanotube synthesis, (2) leveraging this mechanistic understanding to exert precision control on nanotube morphology and bond placement, enhancing the atom economy while minimizing unwanted byproduct formation, and, (3) as a consequence, maximizing the material performance while minimizing the environmental impacts at a reduced fabrication cost for a sustained benefit to the national economy. If successful, the proposed work will contribute a fundamental understanding to the fields of heterogeneous catalysis and nanofabrication and unlock the unattained, transformative materials needed to address the world's water, climate, and energy storage needs. Last, because of the intellectual value of the demonstrated simultaneous-optimization platform for all future technologies, this work could have far-reaching and unimagined benefits in the engineering innovation space. Using a novel Mango Tango chemistry/reactor system, the PI proposes that the carbon precursor controls the reaction product, allowing one to tailor the chirality of SWCNT as well as the surface chemistry. This will allow the production of surfaces that can be used in a variety of applications. In this system, the carbon nanotubes are generated on a fixed substrate rather than in a flowing gas reactor. By using alkynes with different side R groups, the PI can produce a variety of different surface chemistries and dictate the chirality of the product. Student colloquia will address a critical gap in professional preparation trainings and in public communication skills for engineering students.