CAREER: Expanding the Science of Complex Fluids to the Solid State

CBET- 0744650Carlos C. CoU。辛辛那提表面活性剂与水和油的复杂流体混合物自组装形成丰富多样的纳米结构，这些纳米结构在化学和材料工程的许多领域中都有重要应用。在过去的三年里，PI的实验室率先研究了一类全新的无水复杂流体，包括形成固体复杂玻璃的表面活性剂，油和糖。这些糖基复合物玻璃的坚固的纳米结构，以及它们之后可以在水中溶解的容易性，使它们非常有用地作为模板用于制备具有广泛实际应用的棒状、片状和双连续纳米材料。疏水化合物在复杂玻璃中的自发混合也为油的直接封装和药物和蛋白质的保存开辟了新的途径。从拟议的工作，以了解在糖基复杂玻璃的玻璃形成的结果将建立一个更广泛的职业生涯定义的研究计划，从非水复杂流体，包括例如，熔融盐和低熔点金属合金，结合联合收割机的磁性，电子和催化性能与复杂流体的丰富的纳米结构的玻璃形成的基础。新的科学和令人兴奋的应用等待着在玻璃与复杂流体的交叉点上发现。该CAREER提案寻求支持，以促进建立复杂流体中玻璃形成的基本原理。一系列的初步结果表明，在复杂的流体中的玻璃形成和所提出的研究的可行性。其中包括：（1）相行为表征;（2）玻璃化转变的调制差示扫描量热法测量;（3）电子显微镜;（4）微结构长度尺度的小角散射测量;（5）微结构拓扑/连通性的磁共振成像和自扩散测量;以及（6）复杂玻璃在其熔融状态下的流变学表征。为了证明这些复杂的玻璃的实际效用，PI提出了两个具体应用的初步结果：（1）环境友好，无溶剂制备聚二乙烯基苯膜，和（2）高效率，自发封装的50体积%的柠檬烯，橙子油的主要成分，在可食用固体微乳液玻璃。 更广泛的影响：这里提出的教育目标进一步整合PI的研究专长，领导课程改革的努力，提升产品设计，植根于分子水平，在工厂设计的原型化学工程顶点课程相同的水平。为了将一系列新的试点课程中教授的概念结合在一起，PI将开发一个关于洗衣粉的共同案例研究，将胶体和界面现象，聚合物，无机化学，酶催化，封装，粉末加工以及更广泛的生态和知识产权考虑因素联系在一起。其他学术机构将通过WWW访问讲座和实验室模块，PI将为K12学生和教师提供技术简化。PI将评估这一课程改革努力的有效性，这将通过强制性的年度合作教育周期，在两个平行的本科部分分阶段实施。学生，教师和工业评估将用于微调课程内容，并测试普遍持有的信念，即创新产品设计已成为国内化学工程师的必要技能，因为传统的工程功能和生产转移到海外。

CBET- 0744650Carlos C. CoU. Cincinnati Complex fluid mixtures of surfactants with water and oil self-assemble to form a rich variety of nanostructures that have found important applications in many areas of chemical and materials engineering. Over the past three years, the PI's laboratory has pioneered investigations of a completely new class of anhydrous complex fluids, comprising of surfactant, oil, and sugar that form solid complex glasses. The robust nanostructure of these sugar-based complex glasses, and the ease with which they can be dissolved afterwards in water, make them eminently useful as templates for the preparation of rod-like, sheet-like, and bicontinuous nanomaterials with wide ranging practical applications. The thermodynamically driven spontaneous mixing of hydrophobic compounds in complex glasses also opens new avenues for direct encapsulation of oils and preservation of pharmaceuticals and proteins. Results from the proposed work to understand glass formation in sugar-based complex glasses will establish the foundation for a broader career-defining research program in glass formation from non-aqueous complex fluids including for example, molten salts and low melting point metal alloys that combine magnetic, electronic, and catalytic properties with the rich nanostructures of complex fluids. New science and exciting applications await discovery at the intersection of glasses with complex fluids. This CAREER proposal seeks support that will catalyze efforts towards establishing the fundamental principles underlying glass formation in complex fluids. An array of preliminary results demonstrates glass formation in complex fluids and the feasibility of the proposed studies. These include: (1) phase behavior characterization; (2) modulated differential scanning calorimetry measurements of the glass transition; (3) electron microscopy; (4) small angle scattering measurements of microstructural length scales; (5) magnetic resonance imaging and self-diffusion measurements of microstructural topology/connectivity; and (6) rheological characterization of the complex glasses in their molten state. To demonstrate the practical utility of these complex glasses, the PI presents preliminary results for two specific applications: (1) environmentally friendly, solvent-free preparation of polydivinylbenzene membranes, and (2) high-efficiency, spontaneous encapsulation of 50 vol% limonene, the principal component of orange oil, in an edible solid microemulsion glass. Broader Impact: The educational objective proposed here further integrates the PI's research expertise to lead a curriculum reform effort that elevates product design, rooted at the molecular-level, to the same level as the archetypal Chemical Engineering capstone course in plant design. To bring together concepts taught in a sequence of new pilot courses, the PI will develop a common case study on laundry detergents, which ties together knowledge of colloids and interfacial phenomena, polymers, inorganic chemistry, enzyme catalysis, encapsulation, powder processing, and broader ecological and intellectual property considerations. Other academic institutions will access lecture and laboratory modules through the WWW and the PI will make a technically simplified available to K12 students and teachers. The PI will assess the effectiveness of this curriculum reform effort, which will be implemented in stages on two parallel undergraduate sections, through a mandatory annual cooperative education cycle. Student, faculty, and industrial evaluations will be used to fine-tune the course content and test the commonly held belief that innovative product design has become a necessary skill for domestic chemical engineers as traditional engineering functions and production are transferred overseas.