Functional polymeric materials: innovation through fundamental insight

深入了解材料的基本特性可以改进材料、新的制造工艺和新的设备。我的计划的长期愿景是利用物理化学，材料科学，电化学和器件物理的前沿技术来应对有机电子材料开发中的挑战。具体而言，长期目标是：a）提高我们对有机电子材料的基本理解，B）开发超临界流体中的自组装以沉积具有特殊性能的材料，以及c）应用我们的发现a）和B）来创建创新设备。有机电子材料可用于柔性显示器、印刷生物传感器、人造肌肉和其他尖端设备。在接下来的5年里，我们将专注于既能传导离子又能传导电子载流子的有机电子材料的性能。这些材料可用于生物传感器、可在施加电压时改变颜色的窗户、发光装置、半导体逻辑组件、人造肌肉和可加热或冷却表面的柔性装置。材料之间的界面和离子运动的动力学对于这些设备的操作至关重要。当离子靠近有机电子材料时，它会带电。这个过程与我们可以直接检测到的材料颜色变化相结合。在目标1中，我们将测量这种颜色变化的速率，以了解离子如何从一种材料移动到另一种材料，以及化学结构与离子移动速度之间的关系。目标2集中于我们的材料沉积专利工艺。该工艺利用了超临界流体的独特性质，超临界流体表现出气体和液体的中间性质。我们利用它们从类液体连续过渡到类气体行为的能力来指导只能在溶液中处理的材料的沉积。我们已经实现了特征尺寸比目前最先进的技术小10倍。该技术可以进一步缩小规模。我们将研究如何精细地控制材料沉积。我们还将使用这种技术来制造复合材料，重点是金属弹性体复合材料，以制造可拉伸的金属和丙烯酸陶瓷复合材料，以制造增韧的光学材料。目标1的成果将帮助化学家开发更好的材料，帮助应用物理学家和工程师开发更好的设备。我们将开发新技术，以实现更清洁的经济，重点是提取用于电池和水净化的重要矿物。目标2的结果将产生其他方法难以实现的新材料，提供极好的商业化机会。最终，加拿大的利益包括为加拿大工业开发上级材料、设备和制造方法。

Insight into fundamental material properties can lead to improved materials, new manufacturing processes, and new devices. The long-term vision for my program is to leverage techniques at the leading edge of Physical Chemistry, Materials Science, Electrochemistry, and Device Physics to address challenges in the development of organic electronic materials. Specifically, the long-term goals are to: a) improve our fundamental understanding of organic electronic materials, b) develop self-assembly in supercritical fluids to deposit materials with exceptional properties, and c) apply our findings from a) and b) to create innovative devices. Organic electronic materials are useful for flexible displays, printed biosensors, artificial muscles, and other cutting-edge devices. Over the next 5 years we will focus on the properties of organic electronic materials that can conduct both ions and electronic charge carriers. These materials are useful in biosensors, windows that can change colour upon the application of a voltage, light emitting devices, semiconductor logic components, artificial muscles, and flexible devices that can heat or cool a surface. Interfaces between materials and the dynamics of ion movement are crucial for the operation of these devices. When an ion moves close to an organic electronic material, it becomes charged. This process is coupled to a color change in the material that we can detect directly. In Objective 1, we will measure the rate of this colour change to understand how ions move from one material to the other and the relationship between chemical structure the speed of ion movement. Objective 2 centres on our patented process for materials deposition. The process uses the unique properties of supercritical fluids, fluids that exhibit properties intermediate to gasses and liquids. We have leveraged their ability to transition continuously from liquid-like to gas-like behavior to direct the deposition of materials that can only be processed in solution. We have achieved feature sizes 10-fold smaller than the current state-of-the-art. The technique can be further scaled down. We will investigate how finely we can control material deposition. We will also use this technique to create composite materials, focusing on metal-elastomer composites to create a stretchable metal and acrylic-ceramic composites to make toughened optical materials. The outcome of Objective 1 will aid chemists to develop better materials and applied physicists and engineers to develop better devices. We will develop new technologies to bring forth a cleaner economy, focusing on the extraction of vital minerals for batteries and water purification. The outcome of Objective 2 will result in new materials with properties difficult to achieve by other methods, offering excellent commercialization opportunities. Ultimately, the benefits to Canada include the development of superior materials, devices, and manufacturing methods for Canadian industry.