Strategies towards one pot synthesis of 3D core-shell superstructures classified as mechanically strong aerogels

无机化学、生物无机化学和金属有机化学项目的这一奖项支持密苏里大学罗拉分校的Nicholas Leventis教授的研究，该研究旨在通过将交联化学从凝胶化学中分离出来来简化聚合物交联气凝胶的加工。骨架纳米粒子的表面将被双齿自由基引发剂修饰，使得自由基交联化化学独立于凝胶化学，使得所有试剂从一开始就被包括在一起，缩短了整个过程的长度。在第二个目标中，二氧化硅纳米颗粒的表面将被应变的烯烃(例如降冰片烯)装饰，开环歧化聚合(ROMP)将被用于将粒子与降冰片烯、降冰片烯或双环戊二烯(将包括在溶胶中)进行交联。这些类型的交联不仅与工程塑料(例如聚酰亚胺和聚碳酸酯)有关，而且与可能用于医疗和一次性应用的生物相容性(例如聚乙烯吡咯烷酮)和可生物降解(例如大豆油)聚合物有关。所有材料将通过使用统计实验设计方法系统地改变所有制备参数来制备，并将通过化学和物理方法进行详尽的表征。机械特性、建模和仿真将由俄克拉荷马州立大学机械和航空航天工程系的陆红兵教授通过免费合作进行。该项目将为材料化学研究生和本科生的教育创造一个跨学科的智力环境。这两个专业人员都与本科生、少数族裔和女性学生合作，并积极参与OURE(本科生研究经历机会)等项目，旨在增加女性和少数族裔在科学和工程领域的参与。由于该项目满足了对坚固轻质材料的迫切需求，通过将该技术商业化，以及通过在国防、国土安全和空间计划中的应用，可以预见短期利益。

This award in the Inorganic, Bioinorganic and Organometallic Chemistry program supports research by Professor Nicholas Leventis at the University of Missouri-Rolla to simplify processing of polymer crosslinked aerogels by deconvoluting the crosslinking chemistry from the gelation chemistry. The surface of the skeletal nanoparticles will be decorated with bi-dentate free radical initiators rendering the free-radical crosslinking chemistry independent of the gelation chemistry, so that all reagents will be included together from the beginning, shortening the length of the whole process. In a second aim, the surface of the silica nanoparticles will be decorated with strained olefins (e.g., norbornene) and Ring Opening Metathesis Polymerization (ROMP) will be used to crosslink particles together with norbornene, norbornadiene or dicyclopentadiene, which will be included in the sol. Crosslinking of these types will be relevant not only to engineering plastics (e.g., polyimides and polycarbonates), but also to biocompatible (e.g., polyvinylpyrrolidone) and biodegradable (e.g., soybean oil) polymers for possible medical and disposable applications. All materials will be prepared by systematically varying all preparation parameters using a statistical Design-of-Experiments approach, and will be characterized exhaustively by chemical and physical methods. Mechanical characterization, modeling and simulations will be conducted by Professor Hongbing Lu at the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department of Oklahoma State University via a no-cost collaboration. This project will create an interdisciplinary intellectual environment for the education of graduate and undergraduate students in materials chemistry. Both PIs have worked with undergraduate minority and female students and actively participate in programs such as OURE (Opportunities for Undergraduate Research Experience) designed to increase the participation of women and minorities in sciences and engineering. Since the project addresses immediate needs for strong lightweight materials, short-term benefits are envisioned through commercialization of the technology, and through applications in the National Defense, Homeland Security, and the Space Program.