An Interdisciplinary Approach to Understanding the Growth of Nanoporous Materials

摘要CTS-0103010P。马萨诸塞州阿默斯特大学的Monson这项提案是为了响应“纳米科学与工程(NSF 00-119)”的征集而提交的，并请求支持一个跨学科的研究项目，该项目涉及了解纳米多孔材料的生长--侧重于沸石材料。这一领域的研究计划将对全球开发具有纳米级性能的多孔材料的巨大努力产生直接影响，这些材料适用于催化或分离等应用。此外，这种材料生长的一个主要特征是超分子前体粒子的组装，形成具有结晶有序的复杂的有机-无机结构。这一机制是一系列新材料合成的典范，从用于量子限制和激光应用的衬底到具有可控孔隙率和纳米结构的生物材料植入物。该建议源于一些PI在Silicalitc-1沸石晶体生长问题上的合作，其中阐明了涉及亚胶体沸石颗粒形成和组装的生长机制的重要特征。这次合作既有实验工作，也有生长过程的建模。随着这项工作的发展，很明显，更大的研究团队将极大地促进进一步的进展。特别是，显然需要专门知识对生长过程进行详细的原子模拟，以及通过光散射和原子力显微镜进行表征。NSF NIRT倡议为这个研究团队创造了一个充分取得成果的机会。我们的跨学科团队包括马萨诸塞大学和特拉华大学四个系的研究人员，与处于纳米多孔材料应用前沿的公司合作，以及与政府实验室的合作。该项目分为两个主要研究领域：亚胶体颗粒的组装和硅石晶体生长除了阐明沸石生长的基本方面外，我们预计从长远来看，我们的研究将导致新的组装方法和通过亚胶体沸石颗粒组装生长的新材料的开发。我们的每个研究领域都将以实验和模型调查为特色。将使用一系列模拟技术，从原子水平到介观水平，从原子水平到介观水平，了解沸石材料的晶体生长习性。该研究计划有大量的教育内容，包括：在两所合作大学开发关于纳米材料和计算材料科学的新研究生课程，为研究生和博士后学者提供工业实习，以及本科生参与研究。

AbstractCTS-0103010P. Monson, U of Massachusetts Amherst This proposal was submitted in response to solicitation "Nanoscale Science and Engineering (NSF 00-119)" and requests support for an interdisciplinary research program concerned with understanding the growth of nanoporous materials- focusing on zeolitic materials. A research program in this area will have immediate impact on an enormous worldwide effort for developing porous materials with properties tailored at the nanoscale for applications such as catalysis or separations. Moreover, a central feature in the growth of such materials is the assembly of supramolecular precursor particles to form complex organic-inorganic structures with crystalline order. This mechanism is paradigmatic for the synthesis of a whole range of new materials, ranging from substrates for quantum confinement and laser applications to biomaterial implants with controlled porosity and nanostructure.The proposal has its origin in a collaboration among some of the PI's on the problem of crystal growth of silicalitc-1 zeolite, in which important features of a growth mechanism involving the formation and assembly of subcolloidal zeolite particles were elucidated. The collaboration featured both experimental work and modeling of the growth process. As this work developed it became clear that further progress would be greatly enhanced with a larger research team. In particular, it was clear that expertise was required in detailed atomistic modeling of the growth process as well as in characterization by light scattering and atomic force microscopy. The NSF NIRT initiative has created an opportunity for this research team to come to full fruition. Our interdisciplinary team involves researchers in four departments at the Universities of Massachusetts and Delaware, partnerships with companies at the forefront of applications of nanoporous materials and collaboration with a government laboratory.The project is divided into two main research areas: Synthesis, Purification and Structure of Subcolloidal Particles:Assembly of Subcolloidal Particles and Silicalite Crystal GrowthIn addition to elucidating fundamental aspects of zeolite growth, we anticipate that in the longer term our research will lead to novel assembly methods and the development of new materials grown by assembly of subcolloidal zeolite particles. Each of our research areas will feature both experimental and modeling investigations. A spectrum of modeling techniques will be employed spanning length scales from the atomistic level, required to understand the formation and structure of subcolloidal zeolite particles, to the mesoscopic level, required to understand the crystal growth habit of zeolite materials. The research program has substantial educational component including: the development of new graduate courses on nanoscale materials and on computational materials science at both partner Universities, industrial internships for graduate students and postdoctoral scholars, as well as involvement of undergraduate students in the research.