NER: Photomanipulation of Hydrophobicity Using a 2-D Nanostructured Surface

摘要CTS-0102680 A。Garcia/Arizona State UniversityThis is a NER Grant. 当流体系统和装置小型化时，由于表面积与体积比增加，表面现象变得突出。生物系统利用纳米级的表面现象，通过组装独特的元素，如膜和囊泡，将材料穿梭进出细胞，或处理肾脏等器官中的废物。 目前正在进行大量研究，以寻找移动部件的替代品，以便移动超小体积的液体（即微流体），因为机械泵和阀目前难以在纳米级制造，并且需要非常仔细地选择材料。这个NER研究项目是对毛细管表面纳米级工程的探索，以控制超小体积液体的运动。 它探讨的假设，包括光致变色分子的分子混合物可以连接到表面形成各种类型的纳米级单层膜，其中的溶剂化和自由体积的活性元素（即光致变色分子）的控制。 这反过来将允许设计具有生物技术应用的光控微流体泵送、开关和阀门系统。 该项目还支持与杰克逊州立大学的NSF-CREST分子结构和相互作用计算中心建立合作，以可视化和解释我们的实验结果，并指导进一步的实验。

ABSTRACT CTS-0102680A. Garcia/Arizona State UniversityThis is a NER Grant. Surface phenomena become prominent when fluidic systems and devices are miniaturized since the surface area to volume ration increases. Biological systems capitalize on nanoscale surface phenomena by assembling unique elements such as membranes and vesicles to shuttle materials into and out of cells or to process wastes in organs such as the kidney. Much research is currently underway to find alternatives to moving parts in order to move ultra-small volumes of liquid (i.e. micorfluidics) since mechanical pumps and valves are currently difficult to manufacture at the nanoscale and require very careful choice of materials. This NER research project is an exploration of the nanoscale engineering of the surface of capillaries to control movement of ultra-small volumes of liquid. It explores the hypothesis that molecular mixtures including photochromic molecules can be attached to the surface to form various types of nanoscale monolayer films in which the solvation and free volume of the active element (i.e. the photochormic molecule) are controlled. This in turn will allow the design of light controlled micorfluidic pumping, switching, and valving systems with biotechnological applications. This project also supports the establishment of collaboration with the NSF-CREST Computational Center for Molecular Structure and Interactions at Jackson State University in order to visualize and interpret our experimental results as well as to guide further experimentation.