Spatially Defined Radical-Containing Polymers for Enhanced Charge Transfer

在化学系大分子、超分子和纳米化学项目的支持下，德克萨斯农工大学的艾米丽·彭策博士和朱迪·卢特肯豪斯博士将进一步提高基础知识，了解聚合物和颗粒上可转移电子的基团(称为“氧化还原活性基团”)如何影响其储存和产生电能的能力。这将通过制备氧化还原活性基团之间的间距可控的聚合物来实现，然后确定这些聚合物的结构如何影响它们移动电荷的能力。通过这项工作产生的先进知识可能会在能源、电子和医疗应用方面取得突破性进展，例如使有机聚合物能够取代电池的金属部件。除了科学研究，本科生、研究生和博士后研究员将接受培训，以解决复杂的问题，成为合作的STEM工作队伍中富有成效的成员；将制作和分享教育视频和动手演示；高中女性将通过美国国家工程学院工程师女孩网站进行指导。将合成三种不同类别的材料，并用来确定结构和电化学性能之间的关系。这些研究将使用一个有机氧化还原活性基团(2，2，6，6-四甲基哌啶-1-氧基(TEMPO))，所获得的知识应该适用于其他氧化还原活性单元。在第一类材料中，聚合物主链周围的节奏单元的组织将是不同的；在这一类中，节奏单元之间的原子数量将保持不变，但它们周围的空间取向将不同。在第二类材料中，聚合物主干上的节奏单元之间的间距将是不同的；在这一类中，节奏单元之间的原子数量将发生变化。将制备的第三类材料是固体球形颗粒，用TEMPO基团或含有TEMPO基团的短聚合物链装饰；这些装饰后的颗粒将被添加到含有TEMPO基团的聚合物中。这三个类别的不同结构预计将改变固态电影中节奏单位相互作用的方式，从而改变电能的存储方式。材料的物理和电化学性质将得到彻底的表征，这项工作可能会产生关于材料结构如何与聚合物材料中的电子和离子转移相关的知识。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。

With the support of the Macromolecular, Supramolecular and Nanochemistry Program in the Division of Chemistry, Drs. Emily Pentzer and Jodie Lutkenhaus from Texas A&M University will advance the fundamental knowledge of how the placement of groups that can transfer electrons (dubbed “redox-active groups”) on polymers and particles impacts their ability to store and produce electrical energy. This will be accomplished by preparing polymers with controlled spacing between redox-active groups, then determining how the structure of these polymers impact their ability to move electrical charges. The advanced knowledge produced through this work may lead to ground breaking advances for energy, electronic, and medical applications, such as enabling organic polymers to replace the metal components of batteries. In addition to the scientific research, undergraduate students, graduate students, and a postdoctoral researcher will be trained to address complex problems and be productive members of a collaborative STEM workforce; educational videos and hands-on demonstrations will be produced and shared; and high school women will be mentored through the US National Academy of Engineering EngineerGirl website. Three different classes materials will be synthesized and used to identify the relationship between structure and electrochemical properties. One organic redox-active group will be used for these studies (2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine-1-oxyl (TEMPO)), and the knowledge gained should be applicable to other redox-active units. In the first class of materials, the organization of the TEMPO units around a polymer backbone will be varied; in this class, the number of atoms between the TEMPO units will remain the same but their spatial orientation around will be different. In the second class of materials, the spacing between TEMPO units on a polymer backbone will be varied; in this class, the number of atoms between the TEMPO units will be changed. The third class of materials that will be prepared are solid spherical particles that are decorated with either TEMPO groups or short polymer chains that contain TEMPO groups; these decorated particles will be added to the TEMPO-containing polymers. The different structures of the three classes are expected to change how the TEMPO units interact with each other in a solid film, and thus how electrical energy can be stored. The physical and electrochemical properties of the materials will be thoroughly characterized and the work will likely produce knowledge on how material structure correlates to transfer of electrons and ions in polymer-based materials.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.