Mechanism and Mechanics in Supramolecular Polymers

通过这个奖项，有机和大分子化学项目支持杜克大学斯蒂芬·l·克雷格教授的工作。本研究将通过实验表征分子动力学对界面和相变附近宏观材料中超分子聚合物力学性能的贡献。这项研究将利用一套简单但功能强大的分子工具，在这些工具中，相互作用的动态响应可以在一组结构上完全相同的材料中进行调整。动力学控制将首先用于研究动力学对超分子网络溶胶和凝胶体力学性能的贡献。其次，动力学控制也将提供一个工具，通过交联对接枝聚合物电刷薄膜性能的贡献将被系统地研究。这些研究将对新的、对环境敏感的表面和材料的分子设计产生长期影响。更广泛的影响。拟议工作的科学更广泛的影响来自于以定量和合理的方式控制响应材料特性的潜力。特别是，这些研究可能会导致设计智能表面涂层的能力，小到只有几纳米的厚度，完全改变表面与其周围环境之间的机械相互作用。将受指导的女高中生和少数民族本科生纳入研究项目，直接参与实验工作及其理论解释，将产生更广泛的影响。这些研究活动将提高这些学生对科学的长期兴趣和成功，因此将有助于进一步扩大国内科学家队伍的多样性。

With this award, the Organic and Macromolecular Chemistry Program supports the work of Professor Stephen L. Craig of Duke University. This research will experimentally characterize the molecular dynamic contributions to the mechanical properties of supramolecular polymers at interfaces and in macroscopic materials in the vicinity of phase transitions. The research will exploit a simple but powerful set of molecular tools in which the dynamic response of interactions can be tuned within a set of materials that are effectively identical in structure. The control over kinetics will be used first to study the dynamic contributions to bulk mechanical properties in supramolecular network sols and gels. Second, kinetic control will also provide a tool by which the contributions of crosslinks to the properties of grafted polymer brush thin films will be systematically studied. These studies will have long-term implications for the molecular design of new, environmentally responsive surfaces and materials.Broader Impacts. The scientific broader impacts of the proposed work arises from the potential to control responsive material properties in a quantitative and rational way. In particular, these studies might lead to the ability to engineer smart surface coatings, as small as only several nm in thickness, that completely change the mechanical interactions between a surface and its surroundings. Further broader impacts arise from the inclusion of mentored female high school students and minority undergraduates in the research program who would participate directly in the experimental work and its theoretical interpretation. These research activities will improve the long-term interest and success in the sciences for these students and, as a result, will help to further the diversity of the pool of domestic scientists.