CAREER: Understanding Molecular Interactions and Processability for the Design and Manufacture of Ultrafine Electrospun Polymer Fibers

这项学院早期职业发展(Career)助学金专注于在超细聚合物纤维的加工和制造它们所用材料的化学之间建立以科学为基础的联系。虽然通过先进的制造工艺定制材料的形状已经取得了进展，但定制材料的属性仍然是一个缓慢的发展过程。减缓材料定制的一个主要因素是了解用于制造功能产品的复杂混合物中各组分之间的相互作用，特别是这些相互作用如何影响加工性。这项研究项目通过实验和建模将聚合物混合物的化学与通过静电纺丝制造超细纤维联系在一起，从而实现了聚合物产品的敏捷制造。这项研究工作使可制造性材料的快速设计成为可能，从而可以将应用扩展到电子产品、传感器和消费品等高价值产品，从而促进美国的经济和繁荣。化学和加工的整合涉及两个不同领域的合并，并通过跨学科研究、教育和推广提供了培训机会。通过这项职业助学金，研究生接受项目管理方面的培训，以提高他们协调复杂、跨学科研究任务的能力。此外，通过罗伯特·C·威廉姆斯造纸博物馆的推广，通过向学校团体和参观者展示研究如何促进可加工配方的开发和可扩展制造，扩大了参与范围。这项研究的具体目标是通过静电纺丝在溶液化学和超细聚合物纤维可制造性之间建立联系。具有吸引力的分子相互作用，如氢键和静电力，可以在静电纺丝过程中稳定溶液，并防止喷射分解为液滴，类似于聚合物链纠缠。这项研究的重点是了解这些相互作用的类型和强度如何影响光滑纤维的形成及其直径，目的是确定这些相互作用如何影响剪切和拉伸流变性，并将这些影响与纤维生产窗口联系起来。对实验工作的补充是电流体动力学模型的发展，以解释吸引人的相互作用并理解潜在的物理。这些努力为分子相互作用如何影响超细纤维的制造提供了基本的见解。这项研究使低分子聚合物和非聚合物材料的加工成为可能，例如导电聚合物和药品，这些材料目前由于没有聚合物链缠结而无法纺丝。该项目为快速定制超细纤维产品，如传感器、可穿戴电子设备和药物输送系统提供了基础。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) grant focuses on developing a science-based link between the processing of ultrafine polymer fibers and the chemistry of the materials used to make them. While progress has been made in customizing the shape of material goods through advanced manufacturing processes, customizing the properties of the materials is still a slow development process. A major factor slowing materials customization is understanding the interactions between components in the complex mixtures used to make functional products and, especially, how those interactions impact processability. This research project uses experiment and modeling to tie the chemistry of polymer mixtures to the manufacturing of ultrafine fibers via electrospinning, leading to agile manufacturing of polymer products. The research work enables the rapid design of materials for manufacturability, which can expand the applications to high value products such as electronics, sensors and consumer goods, thus augmenting U.S. economy and prosperity. Integration of chemistry and processing involves a merging of two disparate fields and provides an opportunity for training through interdisciplinary research, education and outreach. Through this CAREER grant, graduate students are trained in project management to improve their ability to coordinate complex, interdisciplinary research tasks. In addition, outreach through the Robert C. Williams Museum of Papermaking broadens participation by showing school groups and visitors how research enables development of processable formulations and scalable manufacturing.The specific goal of this research is to develop a link between solution chemistry and ultrafine polymer fiber manufacturability via electrospinning. Attractive molecular interactions, such as hydrogen bonding and electrostatic forces, can stabilize the solution during electrospinning and prevent breakup of the jet into droplets, similar to polymer chain entanglements. This research focuses on understanding how the type and strength of these interactions impact the formation of smooth fibers and their diameter, aiming to determine how the interactions affect the shear and extensional rheological properties and tying those to the fiber production window. Complementing the experimental work is the development of electrohydrodynamic models to account for the attractive interactions and understand the underlying physics. These efforts provide fundamental insights into how molecular interactions impact the manufacturing of ultrafine fibers. This research enables processing of low molecular weight polymers and non-polymeric materials, such as conducting polymers and pharmaceuticals, that are currently unable to be spun due to a absence of polymer chain entanglements. This project provides the foundation to rapidly customize ultrafine fiber products such as sensors, wearable electronics, and drug delivery systems.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.