Controlling and harnessing the effects of nanoconfinement in colloidal polymers and polymer-colloid hybrids

我们的研究计划将利用纳米胶体聚合物系统中的限制效应来开发新一代功能材料。当聚合物、胶体和小分子被限制并包含在小的纳米和微米尺度体积内时，它们开始以不规则的方式表现，更加变化无常，更难预测。它们的结构和动力学被改变，并且它们显示出独特的物理，机械和化学特性，这些特性与散装状态下的相同材料不同。这种限制效应的起源知之甚少，但主要归因于形成纳米或微米级限制所固有的大界面面积。在界面处，截留物种的结构和构象不同于本体。这可以影响所采用的分子结构、形成的分子间相互作用以及在受限几何形状内观察到的化学反应性。 聚合物链可以被限制在纳米胶体之内、之上或周围，并且由纳米胶体系统产生的限制效应可以在不同阶段影响聚合物材料，从它们的合成到它们的最终行为。该计划的目标是：（1）利用聚合物前体的限制来促进来自加拿大工业产生的废物（例如：石油和天然气、纸浆和纸张）。(2)通过研究各种聚合物功能化（聚合物）纳米颗粒，深入了解限制程度和化学组成如何影响聚合物的局部行为（动力学，构象）以及这与全局材料性质的关系。(3)开发或改进加工方法，将限制作为设计元素，并将这些纳米胶体系统转化为可使最终用户受益的材料。通过利用如何限制聚合物系统内的相互作用，构象和反应性可以调整和控制，该研究计划将导致胶体系统的开发与改进的性能和新的设计规则，以制造功能聚合物/纳米胶体杂化材料。它将用于生产传感器、药物输送系统、水净化膜或防腐涂层等新材料，同时为工业副产品开发增值途径。该计划代表了在材料科学的更广泛领域培训HQP的绝佳机会，这对制造业具有重要的社会和经济意义，并为他们提供了多学科的形成，为他们进入就业市场做好准备。

Our research program will harness the effects of confinement in nanocolloidal polymer systems to develop a new generation of functional materials. When polymers, colloids and small molecules are confined and contained within small nano- and micro-scale volumes, they start to behave in an irregular manner, more fickle and less predictable. Their structure and dynamics are altered, and they display unique physical, mechanical and chemical properties that are different from the same material in a bulk state. The origins of this confinement effect are poorly understood but primarily ascribed to the large interfacial area inherent to the formation of nano- or micro- scale confinements. At the interface, the structure and conformation of the entrapped species differ from the bulk. This can affect the molecular structure adopted, the intermolecular interaction formed, and the chemical reactivity observed within the confined geometries. Polymer chains can be confined within, on, or around nanocolloids, and the confinement effect generated by nanocolloidal systems can influence polymer materials at different stages, from their synthesis to their final behavior. The goals of the program are: (1) To use the confinement of polymer precursors to promote the synthesis of polymer materials derived from waste products generated by the Canadian industry (eg. oil and gas, pulp and paper, .). (2) To develop a deeper understanding of how the degree of confinement and the chemical composition affect the local behavior (dynamics, conformation) of the polymers and how this relates to the global material properties by studying a variety of polymer-functionalized (polymer) nanoparticle. (3) To develop or improve processing methods to use the confinement as a design element and convert those nanocolloidal systems into materials that can benefit end-users. By exploiting how the interactions, conformations, and reactivities within confined polymer systems can be tuned and controlled, this research program will lead to the development of colloidal systems with improved properties and new design rules to fabricate functional polymer/nanocolloid hybrid materials. It will be used to produce new materials like sensors, drug delivery systems, water purification membranes, or anticorrosion coatings, while developing valorization routes for industrial by-products. This program represents an excellent opportunity to train HQPs in the broader area of material sciences, which is of great social and economic importance for the manufacturing sector and provides them with a multidisciplinary formation preparing them for the job market.