Collaborative Research: Revealing the Interactions and Dynamics in Framework-Polymer Composite Materials

在材料研究部固体与材料化学计划的支持下，加州大学圣地亚哥分校的Seth Cohen教授和布兰迪斯大学的Klaus Schmidt-Rohr教授正在研究聚合物和多孔固体材料的交叉。先进材料对现代生活的几乎每个方面都至关重要，包括交通、基础设施、信息技术、健康、国防等。结合两种不同的材料，例如相对柔软的聚合物（例如，塑料）和硬固体（例如，陶瓷、粘土等），可有利于制造结合两种材料的最佳性能的新复合材料。然而，由于它们的化学成分不同，通常难以实现将这些材料完全结合。在这项工作中，一系列高度先进的实验和模拟技术被用来阐明聚合物与一类被称为金属有机框架（MOFs）的固体的相互作用。深入了解聚合物和MOFs之间的界面和相互作用将使它们能够更有效地结合，以制造具有有趣和前所未有的性能的杂化材料。除了这些研究之外，该计划还支持来自整个加州大学系统的本科生前往华盛顿，在那里他们可以通过科学政策实习计划（SPIP）参与公共政策和科学界面的实习。技术摘要有机聚合物和金属有机框架（MOFs）的结合已被证明是混合动力发展的重要研究领域，复合材料具有两种组分的有利特性。 然而，人们对这两种不同的材料如何在分子尺度上相互作用知之甚少。 这项工作探索了软，有机聚合物和硬，无机MOFs使用合成，光谱，先进的成像和模拟相结合的相互作用。 最先进的固态核磁共振（NMR）技术，加上扫描和透射电子显微镜（SEM，TEM）以及先进的计算方法，被用来检查聚合物与三种类型的复合材料中的MOF的相互作用：混合基质膜（MMM），MOF刷聚合物，和聚合物衍生的MOF（又称MOFs）。polyMOF）。 最终，这些研究的结果将成为MOF-聚合物界面最详细的研究之一，并将对指导这些混合材料的技术应用发展至关重要。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并被认为值得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来支持。

Non-technical abstractWith the support of the Solid State and Materials Chemistry Program in the Division of Materials Research, Professor Seth Cohen of the University of California, San Diego, and Professor Klaus Schmidt-Rohr of Brandeis University are studying the intersection of polymer and porous solid materials. Advanced materials are essential to nearly every aspect of modern life, including transportation, infrastructure, information technology, health, national defense, and many others. Combining two disparate materials, such as relatively soft polymers (e.g., plastics) and hard solids (e.g., ceramics, clays, etc.), can be advantageous for making new composites combining the best properties of both materials. However, because of their different chemical compositions, thoroughly combining such materials is often difficult to achieve. In this effort, a series of highly advanced experimental and simulation techniques are used to elucidate the interactions of polymers with a class of solids known as metal-organic frameworks (MOFs). Insights into the interface and interactions between polymers and MOFs will enable their more effective combination for making hybrid materials with intriguing and unprecedented properties. In addition to these studies, this program supports undergraduate students from across the University of California system to travel to Washington, DC, where they can participate in internships at the interface of public policy and science through the Science Policy Internship Program (SPIP).Technical abstractCombining organic polymers and metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) has proven an important area of research for the development of hybrid, composite materials that possess favorable properties of both components. However, little is known about how these two disparate materials interact at the molecular scale. This effort explores the interactions between soft, organic polymers and hard, inorganic MOFs using a combination of synthesis, spectroscopy, advanced imaging, and simulations. State-of-the-art solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) techniques, coupled with scanning- and transmission-electron microscopy (SEM, TEM) as well as advanced computational methods, are used to examine the interactions of polymers with MOFs in three types of composites: mixed-matrix membranes (MMMs), MOF brush polymers, and polymer-derived MOFs (a.k.a. polyMOFs). Ultimately, the findings from these studies will be among the most detailed investigations of MOF–polymer interfaces and will be essential to guiding the development of these hybrid materials toward technological applications.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.