CAREER: Laser-Induced Graphene with On-Demand Morphology and Chemistry Control for Scalable Flexible Device Manufacturing

该学院早期职业发展(Career)奖旨在通过两个具体目标转变柔性设备制造和促进服务不足社区的教育：(1)克服目前在柔性聚合物上直接制造功能性三维石墨烯方面的挑战和限制，(2)利用虚拟现实(VR)来加强美国STEM教育和高级制造培训，以在资源有限的环境中实现可扩展的劳动力发展。据估计，灵活的电子市场在2020年将超过410亿美元，预计在未来十年将大约翻一番。因此，从这个项目中获得的科学见解将立即与一些快速增长的行业相关。特别是，生物传感器是极有可能被这种新兴制造方法颠覆的应用领域，构成了柔性电子市场的三大领域之一。柔性电池和可伸缩电子产品预计也将快速增长，这两种产品也可以通过激光诱导的石墨烯进行转变。美国的竞争力将取决于科学研究，以开发新的制造方法，以确保未来柔性电子产品在国内的制造基地。基于VR创建教育模块的方法是一种可扩展的方法，将对全国范围内服务不足的社区的教育产生积极影响。本项目中创建的模块将在线提供，并可用于学校、社区中心和/或大学的其他培训计划，特别是最近由于新冠肺炎对面对面活动施加限制而推动的远程学习计划的兴起。本项目的科学目标是验证中心研究假设，即将聚合物化学与激光诱导纳米碳期间的通量时空映射和实时声发射相结合，能够独特地控制分子工程聚酰亚胺中的热化学转变，形成具有定制的化学、可调节的形态和空间变化的SP2杂化碳。因此，研究的目标是(1)直接在柔性聚酰亚胺上形成具有时空形态和电导率控制的功能梯度多孔石墨烯电极，(2)利用实时声发射测量和机器学习来建立对LINC分级纳米尺度到中尺度形态形成的动力学的基本了解，(3)通过聚酰胺酸前体的分子工程来制备具有空间变化的化学掺杂的石墨烯微电极，以及(4)通过印刷光学引发剂一步在聚合物薄膜的上下两侧创建小型化石墨烯图案的复杂3D结构。教育目标是(1)创建以虚拟现实为基础的身临其境的外展工作坊，目标是来自服务不足社区的初中生和高中生；(2)建立一套虚拟现实单元，以补充国际和平实验室现有的公众参观活动，作为该中心学校招收代表不足的学生的一部分；(3)在PI学校的暑期研究体验计划中，将VR与实践实验相结合，对高中生进行科学培训；以及(4)在本科生和研究生课程的实验室课程中，利用VR来提高教学效率。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。

This Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) award aims at transforming flexible device manufacturing and promoting education in underserved communities through two specific goals: (1) to overcome current challenges and limitations in fabricating functional three-dimensional graphene directly on flexible polymers, and (2) to leverage virtual reality (VR) for enhancing American STEM education and advanced manufacturing training for scalable workforce development in resource-limited environments. The flexible electronics market was estimated to exceed $41 billion in 2020 and is expected to approximately double in the next decade. Hence, the scientific insights gained from this project will be immediately relevant to a number of fast-growing industries. In particular, biosensors is the application area with a high potential to be disrupted by this emerging fabrication approach and constitutes one of the three largest sectors of the flexile electronics market. Rapid growth is also projected for flexible batteries and stretchable electronics, both of which can also be transformed by laser-induced graphene. American competitiveness will depend on scientific studies to develop new manufacturing approaches to ensure that the future of flexible electronics within the domestic manufacturing base. The VR-based approach to create educational modules is a scalable approach that will positively impact education in underserved neighborhoods nation-wide. The modules created in this project will be available online and can be repurposed for other training programs at schools, community centers, and/or colleges, especially with the recent rise of remote learning programs spurred by COVID-19-imposed restrictions on in-person activities.The scientific goal of this project is to test the central research hypothesis that combining polymer chemistry with spatiotemporal mapping of fluence and real-time acoustic emissions during laser-induced nanocarbon (LINC) uniquely enables controlling the thermochemical transitions in molecularly engineered polyimides to form sp2-hybridized carbon with tailored chemistry, tunable morphology, and spatially varying properties. Accordingly, the research objectives are (1) to pattern functionally graded porous graphene electrodes directly on flexible polyimides with spatiotemporal control of morphology and conductivity, (2) to leverage real-time acoustic emission measurements and machine learning for establishing a fundamental understanding of the dynamics underlying the formation of hierarchical nanoscale-to-mesoscale morphology of LINC, (3) to fabricate doped graphene microelectrodes with spatially varying chemistry via molecular engineering of polyamic acid precursors, and (4) to create complex 3D architectures of miniaturized graphene patterns on both top and bottom sides of a polymer film in one-step via printing of optical initiators. The education objectives are (1) to create VR-based immersive outreach workshops targeting middle- and high-school students from underserved neighborhoods; (2) to build a set of VR modules to supplement existing public tours of the PI’s lab as part of underrepresented student recruitment at the PI’s school; (3) to combine VR with hands-on experimentation for science training of high school students during a summer research experience program in the PI’s school, and (4) to leverage VR for enhancing teaching effectiveness in lab sessions for both undergraduate and graduate courses.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.