EAGER/Collaborative Research: Programmed Stimuli-responsive Mesoscale Polymers Inspired by Worm Blobs as Emergent Super-Materials

EAGER/合作研究：受蠕虫斑点启发的程序化刺激响应介观尺度聚合物作为新兴超级材料

• 批准号: 2218382
• 负责人: Saad Bhamla
• 金额: $ 15万
• 依托单位: Georgia Tech Research Corporation
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2022-08-01 至 2024-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2218382&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: EAGER; Collaborative; Research; Programmed; Stimuli

This EArly-concept Grant for Exploratory Research (EAGER) will support fundamental research aimed at developing novel materials composed of stimuli-responsive filaments. The long-term desired behavior of these materials is inspired by the behavior of 1-cm-long California blackworms (Lumbriculus variegatus, Annelida: Clitellata: Lumbriculidae), a fascinating organism that collectively self-assembles to form functional worm blobs. The three-dimensional, soft, and tangled blob behaves as a living material that responds to environmental stresses through dynamic transformations of the blob’s morphology. The specific goals of this EAGER project are two-fold: to conduct biophysical experiments and mathematical analysis on living worms, and to synthesize soft, flexible, filament-like structures in polymer solutions. The behavior of both biological and synthetic systems will be studied at the level of individual filaments, pairs of twisted filaments, and collections of interacting structures. Understanding the properties and movements of these types of filaments has direct implications for creating novel materials, flexible robots, and objects that are pre-programmed to perform useful functions in response to external stimuli such as light, heat, or chemical reagents. The research team will include students from diverse disciplines and under-represented groups, thus adding powerful educational impact to the project and enriching its societal and human impact. This EAGER project will synthesize worm-inspired pre-programmed filamentous structures in polymer solutions capable of exhibiting tangling and untangling dynamics in a triggered fashion. While physically entangled filament-like structures are of great interest at both the molecular and macroscopic size scales, the interactions of structures of intermediate size, termed mesoscale, are not well understood. This project seeks to identify the chemistry, architectures, and most useful stimuli that enable collective systems of mesoscale polymers (MSPs) to readily tangle and untangle on command. Rudimentary segmental actuation of filamentous MSPs has been demonstrated by the research team. However, achieving intricate knotting and unknotting of collective filamentous structures remains a challenge. Here, chiral, twisting, and braiding mesoscale polymer structures will be synthesized using photochemical and fluid-induced methods. These efforts will be guided by fundamental research on the mechanics of knotting and unknotting in the living system. Together, these efforts could bring on a leap in materials synthesis while uncovering new foundational capabilities in the synthetic design of complex interacting filamentous structures.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.

这项早期概念探索性研究补助金 (EAGER) 将支持旨在开发由刺激响应丝组成的新型材料的基础研究。这些材料的长期预期行为受到 1 厘米长的加州黑虫（Lumbriculus variegatus，环节动物：Clitellata： Lumbriculidae）行为的启发，这是一种迷人的生物体，可以集体自组装形成功能性蠕虫团。 这种三维、柔软且纠缠在一起的斑点就像一种活体材料，通过斑点形态的动态转变来响应环境压力。这个EAGER项目的具体目标有两个：对活体蠕虫进行生物物理实验和数学分析，以及在聚合物溶液中合成柔软、灵活的丝状结构。生物和合成系统的行为将在单个细丝、成对的扭曲细丝和相互作用结构的集合的水平上进行研究。了解这些类型的细丝的特性和运动对于创造新型材料、灵活的机器人和预先编程的物体具有直接的意义，这些物体可以响应光、热或化学试剂等外部刺激来执行有用的功能。 研究团队将包括来自不同学科和代表性不足群体的学生，从而为该项目增添强大的教育影响，并丰富其社会和人类影响。这个 EAGER 项目将在聚合物溶液中合成受蠕虫启发的预编程丝状结构，能够以触发方式表现出缠结和解开动力学。 虽然物理缠结的丝状结构在分子和宏观尺寸尺度上都引起了人们的极大兴趣，但中等尺寸（称为介观尺度）结构的相互作用尚不清楚。该项目旨在确定化学、结构和最有用的刺激，使介观聚合物（MSP）的集体系统能够根据命令轻松地缠结和解开。研究小组已经证明了丝状 MSP 的基本分段驱动。然而，实现集体丝状结构的复杂打结和解结仍然是一个挑战。在这里，将使用光化学和流体诱导方法合成手性、扭曲和编织介观聚合物结构。这些努力将以生命系统中打结和解开机制的基础研究为指导。总之，这些努力可以带来材料合成的飞跃，同时揭示复杂相互作用丝状结构合成设计的新基础能力。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。

项目成果

Amorphous entangled active matter

非晶态缠结活性物质

• DOI: 10.1039/d2sm01573k
• 发表时间: 2023
• 期刊: Soft Matter
• 影响因子: 3.4
• 作者: Savoie, William;Tuazon, Harry;Tiwari, Ishant;Bhamla, M. Saad;Goldman, Daniel I.
• 通讯作者: Goldman, Daniel I.

Collecting–Gathering Biophysics of the Blackworm Lumbriculus variegatus

收集 — 收集黑虫 Lumbriculus variegatus 的生物物理学

• DOI: 10.1093/icb/icad080
• 发表时间: 2023
• 期刊: Integrative And Comparative Biology
• 影响因子: 2.6
• 作者: Tuazon, Harry;Nguyen, Chantal;Kaufman, Emily;Tiwari, Ishant;Bermudez, Jessica;Chudasama, Darshan;Peleg, Orit;Bhamla, M. Saad
• 通讯作者: Bhamla, M. Saad

Ultrafast reversible self-assembly of living tangled matter

活体缠结物质的超快可逆自组装

• DOI: 10.1126/science.ade7759
• 发表时间: 2023
• 期刊: Science
• 影响因子: 56.9
• 作者: Patil, Vishal P.;Tuazon, Harry;Kaufman, Emily;Chakrabortty, Tuhin;Qin, David;Dunkel, Jörn;Bhamla, M. Saad
• 通讯作者: Bhamla, M. Saad