REU Site: Polymer Innovation for a Sustainable Future

REU 网站：聚合物创新打造可持续未来

• 批准号: 2348780
• 负责人: SARAH MORGAN
• 金额: $ 42.61万
• 依托单位: University of Southern Mississippi
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2024
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2024-04-01 至 2027-03-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2348780&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: REU; Site; Polymer; Innovation; Sustainable

Non-technical summaryJointly funded by the Division of Materials Research and the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR), the University of Southern Mississippi will host a Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) site supporting ten undergraduate students from across the U.S. in a ten-week immersive research program targeting sustainable approaches in materials development to meet critical societal needs. The students in the REU Site: Polymer Innovation for a Sustainable Future work side by side with graduate students and faculty in state-of-the-art polymer science and engineering laboratories to gain skills in fundamental research while addressing challenges including reducing plastic pollution through development of recyclable and degradable plastics, creating sustainable materials from bio-polymers, and designing new materials for water purification. Students are exposed to materials manufacturing challenges and career opportunities in science and engineering through field trips to local industry and national laboratories. They build interdisciplinary communication and team-building skills through participative workshops and outreach to the community. The program broadens participation in science and engineering by recruiting students from primarily undergraduate institutions, community colleges, and minority-serving institutions, focusing on students from the freshman and sophomore years. The REU is designed to help develop the next generation of science and engineering researchers by attracting students from diverse backgrounds, developing interdisciplinary research skills, and encouraging them to pursue advanced degrees in STEM.Technical summaryThe grand challenges of the 21st century require new and sustainable approaches to materials development. Scientists must work in increasingly complex, interdisciplinary teams that address not only the technical challenges but also the environmental and global impacts of their research. The REU Site: Polymer Innovation for a Sustainable Future is focused on sustainable approaches to materials development to address critical societal needs. Undergraduate researchers are engaged in fundamental materials research efforts that span the complex, interdisciplinary facets of materials sustainability, including design of materials for recyclability and degradability, synthesis of polymers from renewable feedstocks, enhancing process efficiency, and designing polymers for renewable energy applications, while gaining the tools to assess the environmental impact of new material development. The research is organized into three themes. Theme 1, Design for Recyclability and Degradability, includes the design of bio-derived bisphenols to create thermosets with degradable moieties; utilization of keratin biomass to create uv-cured composites; and upcycling of plastic waste through reactive extrusion. Theme 2, Sustainable Polymers: (Bio) Renewable Feedstocks, includes design of lignin based high temperature polymer composites, and creation of antimicrobial chitosan nanocomposites. Theme 3, Materials for Sustainable Energy and Water Purification, includes integrated high-throughput experiments with data science techniques to design flexible electronics, and surface modification to create fouling resistant hydrophobic polymer membranes for water purification. REU students gain hands-on research experience, participate in lectures and seminars in sustainable materials, and learn to communicate the results or their research to different audiences, including middle school students, faculty from polymer science and engineering, biology, and chemistry backgrounds, and NSF/NIH program managers.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.

由材料研究部和刺激竞争研究的既定计划（EPSCoR）共同资助，南密西西比大学将举办一个本科生研究经验（REU）网站，支持来自美国各地的10名本科生在为期十周的沉浸式研究计划中，针对材料开发的可持续方法，以满足关键的社会需求。 REU网站的学生：可持续发展的未来的聚合物创新与最先进的聚合物科学和工程实验室的研究生和教师并肩工作，以获得基础研究技能，同时应对挑战，包括通过开发可回收和可降解塑料减少塑料污染，从生物聚合物中创造可持续材料，并设计用于水净化的新材料。学生通过实地考察当地工业和国家实验室，接触到材料制造的挑战和科学和工程的职业机会。他们通过参与性讲习班和社区外联活动，培养跨学科沟通和团队建设技能。该计划扩大了科学和工程的参与，主要从本科院校，社区学院和少数民族服务机构招收学生，重点是大一和大二的学生。 REU旨在通过吸引来自不同背景的学生，培养跨学科的研究技能，并鼓励他们攻读STEM高级学位，帮助培养下一代科学和工程研究人员。技术摘要21世纪的重大挑战需要新的可持续的材料开发方法。科学家必须在日益复杂的跨学科团队中工作，不仅要解决技术挑战，还要解决其研究对环境和全球的影响。REU网站：可持续未来的聚合物创新专注于材料开发的可持续方法，以满足关键的社会需求。 本科生研究人员从事基础材料研究工作，跨越材料可持续性的复杂，跨学科方面，包括材料的可回收性和降解性设计，从可再生原料合成聚合物，提高工艺效率，以及设计可再生能源应用的聚合物，同时获得评估新材料开发对环境影响的工具。研究分为三个主题。主题1，可回收性和可降解性设计，包括生物衍生双酚的设计，以创建具有可降解部分的热固性材料;利用角蛋白生物质创建紫外线固化复合材料;以及通过反应挤出对塑料废物进行升级循环。主题2，可持续聚合物：（生物）可再生原料，包括基于木质素的高温聚合物复合材料的设计，以及抗菌壳聚糖纳米复合材料的创造。 主题3，可持续能源和水净化材料，包括集成高通量实验与数据科学技术，以设计灵活的电子产品，并进行表面改性，以创建防污的疏水聚合物膜用于水净化。REU学生获得实践研究经验，参加可持续材料的讲座和研讨会，并学习将结果或他们的研究传达给不同的受众，包括中学生，来自聚合物科学与工程，生物学和化学背景的教师，NSF/该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识产权进行评估，优点和更广泛的影响审查标准。