Topics in Soft Condensed Matter Theory: From Macromolecules to Hierarchically Structured Soft Materials

软凝聚态理论专题：从大分子到层次结构软材料

• 批准号: 227618-2012
• 负责人: Shi, AnChang
• 金额: $ 3.06万
• 依托单位: McMaster University
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2015
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2015-01-01 至 2016-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=570290
• 关键词: Topics; Soft; Condensed; Matter; Theory

Soft matter refers to materials such as polymers, liquid crystals, surfactant solutions, colloidal suspensions, and lipids. These materials are commonly found in plastics, pharmaceuticals, foodstuffs and biomaterials. One of the most intriguing properties of these materials is their ability to self-assemble into complex hierarchical structures with ordering over many length scales. Self-assembled hierarchically structured materials are paramount to advanced materials, and more importantly, to biological organisms as we are the perfect example of complex self-assembly. The objective of the proposed research is to develop molecule-based theories to explain and predict the emergence, stability and physical properties of self-assembled soft materials. The knowledge gained from our research will be an enabling factor in the engineering of affordable nanostructured soft materials with desired properties for applications such as drug delivery vehicles and data storage media. The formation of hierarchically structured soft matter involves building blocks with diverse physical attributes such as size, shape and rigidity. These building blocks often interact via complex interactions such as molecular association and long-range electrostatic interaction. Understanding the interplay between these diverse factors demands the development of new theoretical frameworks and techniques. The proposed research focuses on a few inter-related projects to answer this demand: (1) The structure and phase transition of multi-block copolymers, focusing on the occurrence of hierarchically ordered structures; (2) The phase behavior of polymeric systems containing rigid components, focusing on the effects of molecular conformation on the self-assembled phases; (3) The effect of polymer complexation, focusing on how self-assembly structures can be purposefully manipulated by association; and (4) The structure and morphology of amphiphilic solutions, focusing on the formation and properties of multicomponent membranes.

软物质是指聚合物、液晶、表面活性剂溶液、胶体悬浮液和脂类等物质。这些材料通常存在于塑料、药品、食品和生物材料中。这些材料最有趣的特性之一是它们能够自组装成复杂的层次结构，并在许多长度尺度上有序。自组装的分层结构材料对先进材料至关重要，更重要的是，对生物有机体来说，我们是复杂自组装的完美例子。提出的研究目标是发展基于分子的理论来解释和预测自组装软材料的出现、稳定性和物理性质。从我们的研究中获得的知识将成为工程中经济实惠的纳米结构软材料的有利因素，这些材料具有诸如药物输送载体和数据存储介质等应用所需的性能。