GCR: Life Cycle Management of Materials: Sustainable Biomass to Designer Polymer Systems

这份日益增长的聚合研究提案描述了基础的、高影响力的研究，这些研究可以增强对与使用生物质产生设计聚合物系统相关的主要挑战的理解，并提供解决方案。所提出的努力是独特的，因为它们通过多学科的融合来解决物理科学，工程，地球科学和毒理学对先进材料生命周期管理的影响，包括：生态水文学，催化科学（实验-合成和生物，计算），聚合物化学，大分子科学，生物分子工程，动物和食品科学，以产生一个新的围绕材料生命周期管理的总体学科。为了开发可持续生物基材料生产的可行途径，该团队将探索以下基础科学主题：(i)合成（催化）方法来解构生物质；（ii）选择性和“可编程”结合官能团到聚合物前体的酶途径；（iii）软材料的结构/性质关系，将原料和解聚途径与聚合物性质联系起来；生成多组件互穿网络（ipn）的处理协议；(v)用于确定预测适用于生物基材料的[宏观]分子毒性的结构/活性关系的测定；(6)通过溶解有机碳化学和茎流分析无创评估树木/植物木质素组成的途径。通过对这些主题的研究，研究小组计划建立一个基本的可翻译的路线图，将环境因素和生物多样性-催化-大分子材料化学和聚合物设计/表征/加工-分子毒性联系起来。该项目由增长融合研究计划、刺激竞争研究的既定计划（EPSCoR）和工程局共同资助。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This Growing Convergence Research proposal describes fundamental, high-impact studies that can enhance understanding of, and provide solutions to, the major challenges associated with the use of biomass toward generating designer polymer systems. The proposed efforts are unique as they address the physical science, engineering, geoscience, and toxicology impacts of advanced materials life cycle management through the convergence of multiple disciplines, including: ecohydrology, catalytic science (experimental - synthetic and biological, and computational), polymer chemistry, macromolecular science, biomolecular engineering, and animal and food science, to spawn a new overarching discipline around Materials Life Cycle Management.To enable the development of viable routes to sustainable biobased materials generation, the team will explore the following basic science topics: (i) synthetic (catalytic) approaches to the deconstruction of biomass; (ii) enzymatic routes to the selective and 'programmable' incorporation of functional groups to polymer precursors; (iii) structure/property relationships in soft materials, linking feedstock and depolymerization routes to polymer properties; (iv) processing protocols to generate multi-component interpenetrating networks (IPNs); (v) assays to determine structure/activity relationships that predict [macro]molecular toxicity applicable to biobased materials; and, (vi) routes to non-invasively assess lignin composition in trees/plants through dissolved organic carbon chemistry and stemflow analysis. By working on these topics, the research team plans to establish a fundamental and translatable roadmap that links environmental factors and biodiversity -to- catalysis -to- macromolecular materials chemistry and polymer design/characterization/processing -to- molecular toxicity.This project is jointly funded by the Growing Convergence Research program , the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR), and Engineering Directorate.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.