NER: "Repair and Go" with Nanoparticle-filled Polymer Capsules

安娜·C·巴拉兹0707420智慧价值新型纳米粒子，展示了大量新颖的组成和结构，现在正在以明显快速的速度产生。这些颗粒可能具有各种各样的理想特性，从软材料中的新颖电磁行为和机械增强，到消费品和食品中的风味、芳香和颜色。然而，建立一种通用的方法将这种类型的纳米颗粒整合到一系列材料中仍然是一个关键的挑战。将纳米颗粒封装到微胶囊中--包括一个充满流体的核心和聚合物外壳--为这一挑战提供了一个关键的解决方案；微胶囊提供了一种有效的手段来调节被包裹的纳米颗粒的释放速度，并将颗粒定向输送到表面。后一种属性对于许多应用程序尤其重要。例如，为了使纳米粒子在化妆品和个人护理产品中有效，它们必须到达皮肤或头发；同样，对于印刷、纺织和涂层应用，粒子必须针对底物。这个纳米级探索性研究项目是纳米科学中的概念验证研究，旨在满足上述基本需求。PI将设计流体驱动的微胶囊，将纳米颗粒携带到所需的表面，然后释放颗粒，在底层基质上提供涂层。这种“铺路”系统不仅在上述应用中发挥了宝贵的作用，而且还形成了微米和纳米制造的有用工具。他们还将隔离从胶囊中释放的纳米颗粒可以修复底层基质中的损伤的条件，从而建立设计纳米颗粒填充的微胶囊的指导方针，这些微胶囊执行“修复并运行”功能。该项目将整合PI的不同专业领域。作为主要的PI，Balazs将为理解纳米颗粒填充胶囊的动态行为，包括它们与表面的相互作用以及它们对纳米颗粒的释放提供理论基础。Emrick和Russell将提供合成和表征，使用两亲性接枝共聚物作为纳米粒子(如量子点)的自组装封装剂，以及胶囊遍历和释放其内容物的图案化衬底。通过他们的共同努力，私人投资机构计划在NER项目的一年时间框架内建立一种新的微胶囊和纳米颗粒输送方法。在根本层面上，这些结果将具有学术价值和科学影响，因为这些发现将提供对流体环境中多相组装动力学的洞察。这些结果还将产生关于如何操纵系统内的固有相互作用(例如，纳米颗粒-胶囊、纳米颗粒-表面和纳米颗粒-流体相互作用)以产生所需行为的新信息。广泛影响这些发现还将产生更广泛的影响；预测不同的颗粒如何可控地输送到一种材料的衬底上，将使研究人员能够在一系列应用和技术中利用纳米颗粒提供的独特功能，包括在个人护理、制药和食品行业等一系列应用和技术中提供的功能。在资助期间，私人投资机构将在马萨诸塞大学主办一个为期一天的研讨会，主题是与商业产品和最新研究相关的胶囊和纳米材料。研讨会简称为“纳米封装”，将由来自学术界的私人投资机构和其他研究人员，以及在企业中从事依赖于封装技术的产品的科学家发表演讲。这次会议将对社会上的学生和研究人员以及会议的其他与会者产生教育影响。该项目还将为从事该项目的年轻研究人员带来教育方面的好处。特别是，它将让参与该项目的学生(一个在匹兹堡大学，一个在马萨诸塞州阿默斯特大学)第一手看到将理论和实验研究整合到一个连贯的行动计划中的潜在好处。

Anna C. Balazs 0707420Intellectual MeritNew types of nanoparticles, which display a large range of novel compositions and structures are now being generated at a distinctly rapid pace. These particles may have a wide variety of desirable properties, from novel electromagnetic behavior and mechanical reinforcement in soft materials, to flavor, fragrance and color in consumer goods and food. It remains, however, a critical challenge to establish a common method for incorporating this variety of nanoparticles into a range of materials. The encapsulation of nanoparticles into microcapsules -- which encompass a fluid-filled core and polymeric shell -- offers a key solution to this challenge; the microcapsules provide an effective means of regulating the release rate of the enclosed nanoparticles and targeting the delivery of the particles onto surfaces. The latter attribute is especially important for a number of applications. For example, for the nanoparticles to be effective in cosmetics and personal care products, they must reach the skin or hair; in a similar manner, for printing, textile and coating applications, the particles must be targeted to a substrate.This Nanoscale Exploratory Research project is a proof-of-concept study in nanoscience, aimed at addressing the essential needs described above. The PIs will design fluid-driven microcapsules that carry nanoparticles to a desired surface, then release the particles to provide a coating on the underlying substrate. Such "road paving" systems not only play a valuable role in the applications noted above, but also form a useful tool for micro- and nanofabrication. They will also isolate conditions where nanoparticles released from the capsules can repair the damage in an underlying substrate, and thereby establish guidelines for designing nanoparticle-filled microcapsules that perform a "repair and go" function.The project will integrate the different areas of expertise of the PIs. Balazs, the lead PI, will provide the theoretical basis to understand the dynamic behavior of nanoparticle-filled capsules, including their interactions with surfaces, and their release of nanoparticles. Emrick and Russell will provide synthesis and characterization, using amphiphilic graft copolymers as self-assembling encapsulants for nanoparticles such as quantum dots, and patterned substrates over which the capsules traverse and release their contents. By combining their efforts, the PIs plan to establish, within the one-year timeframe of the NER project, a new approach to microencapsulation and delivery of nanoparticles. On a fundamental level, the results will have intellectual merit and scientific impact since the findings will provide insight into the dynamics of multiphase assemblies in fluid environments. These results will also yield new information on how to manipulate the inherent interactions within the system (e.g., the nanoparticle-capsule, the nanoparticle-surface, and the nanoparticle-fluid interactions) to yield the desired behavior. Broad ImpactThe findings will also have a broader impact; predicting how diverse particles can be delivered controllably to a substrate within a material will allow researchers to harness the unique functionalities offered by the nanoparticles in a range of applications and technologies, including the functionalities offered by the nanoparticles in a range of applications and technologies, including the personal care, pharmaceutical and food industries. During the course of the funding period, the PIs will host a one-day symposium at the University of Massachusetts, on the topic of encapsulation and nanomaterials that are relevant to both commercial products and state-of-the-art research. The symposium, simply titled "Nanoencapsulation", will feature presentations by the PIs and other researchers from academia, as well as scientists working in corporations with products that hinge on encapsulation techniques. This meeting will have an educational impact on the students and researchers in the community and other attendees of the meeting. The project will also have an educational benefit for the young researchers working on the project. In particular, it will allow the students working on the project (one at the University of Pittsburgh and one at UMass Amherst) to see first-hand the potential benefits of integrating theoretical and experimental research into a cohesive plan of action.