Research Initiation Award: Investigating the Kinetics of Vitrification and Crystallization of Electrospun Nanofibrous Carrier for Improved Stability and Drug Loading Capacity

研究启动奖支持传统黑人学院和大学的初级和中期职业教师，他们正在建立新的研究项目或重新指导和重建现有的研究项目。期望该奖项有助于提高教师的研究能力和效率，改善所在机构的研究和教学，并使本科生参与研究经验。该研究启动奖授予了Prairie View a&m University (PVAMU)，用于支持化学工程系的研究。该项目旨在深入了解纳米尺度的结晶，并开发新的加工策略，以制造稳定形式的纳米纤维来输送药物。它提高了PVAMU的研究能力，并教育和培训了新一代的少数民族和女性STEM专业人员。此外，该项目具有更广泛的意义，通过强大的师徒互动，为少数族裔学生提供实践研究培训和职业发展机会，并提高化学工程研究能力。本研究的基础知识涉及到从玻璃态到理解纳米纤维结构转变的结晶过程。负载药物从纳米纤维支架的释放模式取决于基质的结晶和无定形排列。理解纳米约束对结晶影响的挑战在于材料动力学和热力学的不同作用。目的是深入了解电纺纳米纤维的结晶动力学，并利用闪差扫描量热法（FDSC）获得聚合物支架的玻璃化温度、结晶温度和熔化温度等热性能的定量测量。该项目将(1)研究玻璃化路径对玻璃化转变温度以上冷结晶和玻璃态结晶的影响；(2)从热流曲线表征结晶过程，并评估结晶开始时间（结晶开始）和结晶峰值时间（最大结晶速率）作为温度的函数。玻璃态的结晶或反玻璃化使用时间-温度转变图作为材料结晶和非晶态材料玻璃化转变温度的框架。项目目标的成功完成将有助于将多种可溶性药物加载到纳米纤维中，以提高其生物利用度并实现其控释。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。

Research Initiation Awards support junior and mid-career faculty at Historically Black Colleges and Universities who are building new research programs or redirecting and rebuilding existing research programs. It is expected that the award helps to further the faculty member's research capability and effectiveness, improves research and teaching at the home institution, and involves undergraduate students in research experiences. The research initiation award to Prairie View A&M University (PVAMU) supports research in the Chemical Engineering department. The project aims to gain an in-depth knowledge of crystallization at the nanoscale and develop new processing strategies to make stable forms of nanofibers to deliver drugs. It enhances the research capabilities of PVAMU and educates and trains new generations of minority and women STEM professionals. In addition, this project has broader significance by supporting hands-on research training and career development opportunities for underrepresented minority students through strong mentor-mentee interactions and advancing the chemical engineering research capability. The fundamental knowledge of the research relates to the crystallization process from the glassy state to understand the structural transformation of nanofibers. The release pattern of the loaded drug from the nanofibrous scaffold depends on the crystalline and amorphous arrangement of the matrix. The challenge to understanding the nanoconfinement influence on crystallization lies in the varying roles of kinetics and thermodynamics of materials. The goal is to gain in-depth knowledge of the kinetics of crystallization of electrospun nanofibers and obtain quantitative measurements of the thermal properties such as glass transition temperature, crystallization temperature, and melting temperature of polymeric scaffolds using Flash Differential Scanning Calorimetry (FDSC). The project will (1) investigate the influence of the vitrification path on cold crystallization above the glass transition temperature and crystallization from the glassy state and (2) characterize the crystallization process from the heat-flow curves and evaluate the onset time (beginning of crystallization) and the peak time of the crystallization (maximum crystallization rate) as a function of temperature. The crystallization, or devitrification, from the glassy state uses the time-temperature-transformation diagram as a framework for crystallizing materials and glass transition temperature for amorphous materials. The successful completion of project goals will contribute to loading a wide variety of soluble drugs into the nanofibers for improving their bioavailability and attaining their controlled release.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.