Collaborative Research: Self-Assembly in Ultrathin Films of Bent-Core Molecules: Experiment, Simulations, and Applications

技术概述表面吸附将用于通过朗缪尔技术在水面上以及在水下的自支撑膜中产生具有超过厘米范围的取向顺序的纳米芯层。这些纳米厚的有序层将被原位研究，转移到固体基底（朗缪尔/Blodgett和朗缪尔/Schaeffer层），然后用于对齐大块的核中间相。这些系统将与多尺度的方法进行分析，其中宏观和介观实验与现实的分子和介观模拟，其中没有一种方法可以覆盖整个范围的长度尺度。在水下形成的BLM样薄膜将通过聚合来稳定，并作为生物系统的传感器进行测试。该项目旨在了解这些过程的物理基础，以及它们对小分子变化和/或外部刺激的敏感性。所获得的知识将用于优化这些分子的自组织，以用于各种应用。该项目的更广泛影响将包括增强控制表面特性的能力，这可能导致传感器等设备的改进，在独特的多学科环境中对学生进行培训，以及开发跨学科教材。在自然界和技术中，材料对外部刺激的敏感性起着关键作用。例如，生物系统在胞内和胞吐（细胞吸收或排出物质的过程）中广泛使用这种敏感性。这种敏感性也是液晶在电光器件和其他应用中取得成功的原因。这个变革性的项目将使用实验/计算相结合的方法来研究香蕉形分子的特性如何通过与表面的相互作用而改变，以及如何利用这些变化来生产用于设备应用的有序香蕉形液晶材料，如生物传感器和智能生物材料。更复杂但可合成控制的分子结构允许更广泛的表面性质。与核心合成领域的国际领导者合作，对这些复杂分子的分子结构进行必要的修改，在该项目中发挥着至关重要的作用。从高中到研究生阶段的学生将接受物理，化学和工程方面的跨学科教育，并通过肯特州立大学液晶研究所的独特环境接触工业联系。

TECHNICAL SUMMARYSurface adsorption will be used to create bent-core layers on water via Langmuir techniques, as well as in free-standing films under water, with orientational order over centimeter ranges. These nanometer-thick ordered layers will be studied in situ, transferred to solid substrates (Langmuir/Blodgett and Langmuir/Schaeffer layers), and then used to align bulk bent-core mesophases. These systems will be analyzed with a multiscale approach, in which macroscopic and mesoscopic experiments are correlated with realistic molecular and mesoscopic simulations, where no one approach can cover the whole range of length scales. BLM-like films formed underwater will be stabilized by polymerization and tested as sensors for biological systems. The project will aim to understand the physics underlying these processes, and their sensitivity to small molecular changes and/or external stimuli. The knowledge gained will be used to optimize the self-organization of these molecules for diverse applications. The broader impacts of this project will include the enhanced ability to control surface properties which may lead to improved devices such as sensors, the training of students in a unique multidisciplinary environment, and the development of interdisciplinary teaching materials. NONTECHNICAL SUMMARYThroughout both nature and technology, the sensitivity of materials to external stimuli plays critical roles. For example, biological systems make extensive use of this sensitivity in endo- and exocytosis, the processes by which cells take in or expel materials. This sensitivity also lies behind the success of liquid crystals in electro-optical devices and other applications. This transformative project will use a combined experimental/computational approach to investigate how the properties of bent-core, banana-shaped molecules, are changed by interaction with a surface, and how these changes can be exploited to produce ordered bent-core liquid crystal materials for device applications, such as biosensors and smart biomaterials. More complex, but synthetically controllable molecular structures allow a much broader range of surface properties. Collaborations with international leaders in bent-core synthesis, to implement necessary modifications of the molecular structure of these complex molecules, plays an essential role in this project. Students ranging from high school to graduate level will receive interdisciplinary education in physics, chemistry, and engineering and be exposed to industrial contacts through the unique environment of the Liquid Crystal Institute at Kent State University.