CAREER: Investigation of Sol-gel-derived Hybrid Colloids for New Silica-Germania Glasses

职业：研究用于新型二氧化硅-德国玻璃的溶胶-凝胶衍生混合胶体

• 批准号: 2144453
• 负责人: Joel Destino
• 金额: $ 56.5万
• 依托单位: Creighton University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2022-04-01 至 2027-03-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2144453&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: CAREER; Investigation; Sol; gel; derived

This award is funded in whole or in part under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117-2).PART 1: NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARYInorganic glass optical materials play a critical role in many technologies that improve everyday life. Nevertheless, conventional glass processing methods (i.e., melt quench fabrication) fundamentally limit many glass systems and hinder research development of novel applications. This research project, supported by the Ceramics and the Solid State and Materials Chemistry programs in the Division of Materials Research, investigates nanoscale germania and germania-silica particles (i.e., colloids) and their use as building blocks for fabricating non-crystalline (i.e., glass) materials by unconventional chemical methods, amenable to 3D printing. The principal investigator explores new routes for preparing non-crystalline mixed oxide materials by synthetically controlling colloid composition and morphology. This provides new design rules for tailored fabrication of glass materials by the method, with broad implications in glass science and optical material design. An integrated educational plan offers a seamless learning community by bringing modern materials science and discovery into the classroom and providing research training opportunities. Undergraduate students at a primarily undergraduate institution (PUI) and local high school student researchers from diverse backgrounds learn essential research skills, use state-of-the-art equipment, and gain exposure to a broader community of researchers through collaboration and research-relevant travel. High school science teachers are recruited from Omaha public schools to participate in a summer program. The program connects teachers with local faculty mentors, provides hands-on materials and chemistry research experiences, and results in classroom activities to engage high school students in research concepts and increase awareness of STEM opportunities.PART 2: TECHNICAL SUMMARYWhile the melt-quench approach typifies the traditional understanding of disordered, non-crystalline solids, it limits glass design. Hybrid colloids are attractive precursors for preparing non-crystalline materials with compositions and properties unachievable by conventional processes. By synthetically tuning colloid chemistry and morphology, novel, sol-gel-derived glasses can be made from the bottom up using cutting-edge technologies, such as additive manufacturing. With support from the Ceramics and the Solid State and Materials Chemistry programs in the Division of Materials Research, the principal investigator studies the fundamental chemistry and materials science driving colloid growth and subsequent glass network formation in silica-germania glasses. The two aims of this research plan are to explore the (1) chemical mechanisms that drive amorphous sol-gel germania colloid growth and (2) the relationships between hybrid germania-silica colloid structure and resulting glass-forming properties. The underlying central hypotheses are that (1) by probing sol-gel hydrolysis, synthetic chemical mechanisms leading to stable amorphous germania colloid growth can be discovered, mitigating subsequent in-solution crystallization kinetics, and (2) that hybrid colloid design can be used to form silica-germania glasses in new binary compositions. Bulk/ensemble and microscale time- and temperature-dependent analyses in solution and solid-state utilizing NMR, FTIR, and Raman spectroscopies, TGA/DSC, and XRD enable chemical and structural determination, and electron and scanning probe microscopies are used to elucidate complementary physical information including colloid size and structure, as well as morphological changes from the nano- to micro-scales. Systematic mapping of the kinetic and thermodynamic processes that govern germania colloid growth, the formation of silica-germania glass from hybrid colloids, silica-germania glass network structure, and its impact on glass optical properties are potential outcomes of the research. Additionally, this project provides high school and undergraduate researchers with training opportunities in modern materials research, and they learn methods and techniques related to the synthesis, fabrication, and analysis of glass and ceramic 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.

该奖项的全部或部分资金根据《2021 年美国救援计划法案》（公法 117-2）提供。 第 1 部分：非技术摘要无机玻璃光学材料在改善日常生活的许多技术中发挥着关键作用。然而，传统的玻璃加工方法（即熔融淬火制造）从根本上限制了许多玻璃系统并阻碍了新应用的研究开发。该研究项目由材料研究部的陶瓷和固态与材料化学项目支持，研究纳米级氧化锗和氧化锗-二氧化硅颗粒（即胶体）及其作为构建块的用途，通过非常规化学方法制造适合 3D 打印的非晶（即玻璃）材料。主要研究者探索通过综合控制胶体组成和形貌制备非晶混合氧化物材料的新途径。这为通过该方法定制玻璃材料的制造提供了新的设计规则，对玻璃科学和光学材料设计具有广泛的影响。综合教育计划通过将现代材料科学和发现带入课堂并提供研究培训机会，提供无缝的学习社区。主要本科院校 (PUI) 的本科生和来自不同背景的当地高中生研究人员学习基本的研究技能，使用最先进的设备，并通过合作和与研究相关的旅行接触更广泛的研究人员社区。从奥马哈公立学校招募高中科学教师参加暑期项目。该计划将教师与当地教师导师联系起来，提供材料和化学研究的实践经验，并通过课堂活动让高中生参与研究概念并提高对 STEM 机会的认识。第 2 部分：技术摘要虽然熔融淬火方法代表了对无序非结晶固体的传统理解，但它限制了玻璃设计。杂化胶体是制备具有传统工艺无法实现的组成和性能的非晶材料的有吸引力的前体。通过综合调整胶体化学和形态，可以使用增材制造等尖端技术自下而上制造新型溶胶-凝胶衍生玻璃。在材料研究部陶瓷、固态和材料化学项目的支持下，首席研究员研究了驱动硅-锗玻璃中胶体生长和随后玻璃网络形成的基础化学和材料科学。该研究计划的两个目标是探索（1）驱动无定形溶胶-凝胶氧化锗胶体生长的化学机制，以及（2）杂化氧化锗-二氧化硅胶体结构与所得玻璃形成特性之间的关系。潜在的中心假设是（1）通过探测溶胶-凝胶水解，可以发现导致稳定的无定形氧化锗胶体生长的合成化学机制，从而减轻随后的溶液内结晶动力学，以及（2）混合胶体设计可用于形成新的二元组合物中的二氧化硅-氧化锗玻璃。利用 NMR、FTIR 和拉曼光谱、TGA/DSC 和 XRD 在溶液和固态中进行体积/整体和微观时间和温度依赖性分析，可实现化学和结构测定，电子和扫描探针显微镜用于阐明补充物理信息，包括胶体尺寸和结构，以及从纳米尺度到微米尺度的形态变化。 该研究的潜在成果是系统地绘制控制氧化锗胶体生长的动力学和热力学过程、混合胶体形成二氧化硅-氧化锆玻璃、二氧化硅-氧化锆玻璃网络结构及其对玻璃光学性能的影响。此外，该项目为高中和本科生研究人员提供了现代材料研究的培训机会，让他们学习与玻璃和陶瓷材料的合成、制造和分析相关的方法和技术。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。