Triangle Center for Excellence for Materials Research and Innovation: Programmable Assembly of Soft Matter

三角材料研究与创新卓越中心(CEMRI)*将成为北卡罗来纳州罗利-达勒姆-教堂山（三角）地区的材料科学与工程研究和教育的国家资源，该地区是一个繁荣的技术和经济中心，学术界和工业界高度集中了材料创新活动。三角CEMRI将重点研究和开发用于可编程组装的软物质组件，以及由这些组件组装产生的功能和混合材料。它将协同利用杜克大学、北卡罗来纳州立大学、北卡罗来纳大学教堂山分校和北卡罗来纳中央大学（一所排名靠前的公立HBCU）现有的互补优势。三角CEMRI将通过产生(i)新的基本见解和理论理解，（ii）新的设计原则，（iii）胶体和大分子材料及其高阶组件的新应用和用途，以及（iv）综合教育和推广计划，对软物质材料科学产生重大影响。理解、利用和开发与多组分颗粒和大分子组件聚集相关的动态过程代表了当前材料研究的重要前沿。两个跨学科研究小组（IRGs）由材料理论，模拟，合成，加工和应用方面的领先研究人员组成，将超越这些前沿。还将设立一个种子基金计划，以允许三角CEMRI的范围扩展到软物质研究的新领域。IRG1：综合交互设计的多组分胶体组装。IRG1的目标是对非常小的颗粒（胶体）的多组分悬浮液的大块材料的自组装有一个基本的了解。该团队将专注于阐明通过设计控制材料制造的程序化胶体组装的基本规则。最终，这项工作将对混合光子和声子晶体、各向异性导电薄膜、自修复材料、“智能”凝胶、超材料和其他先进工程材料的生产产生影响。IRG2：可编程自组装的遗传编码聚合物语法。IRG2的总体目标是建立“句法体”的设计规则，其相行为有助于将其自组装编程为超分子结构。句法体是由一组“字母”（可以是氨基酸、核苷酸或合成成分的单体）组成的大分子，排列在“单词”（重复单元）中，依次按照语法（定义为单词的排列）排列成“短语”（大分子）。大分子设计的新范式将导致新材料被用作药物输送载体、致动器、纳米纤维、可切换膜、功能连接器、矿化支架、组织植入物或3-D细胞培养。三角CEMRI将协调三角研究区内专业材料研究设施的建立和使用。它的研究人员将有机会使用一个全球研究资源网络，包括几个国家实验室以及欧洲和亚洲的实验室。创新和技术转让将通过三角CEMRI活动得到加强，这些活动旨在促进和催化与大小工业和非营利性商业化和创新伙伴的相互作用。培训、教育和推广活动的全面整合将利用研究三角地区材料研究和相关领域的高水平奖学金。三角CEMRI在教育，培训和推广方面的总体目标是为G5-12学生，本科生，研究生，博士后研究人员以及公共部门的受众注入新的相关性，兴奋和价值的材料科学，工程和技术教育。* 1 NSF材料研究科学与工程中心（MRSEC）

The Triangle Center of Excellence for Materials Research and Innovation (CEMRI)* will be a national resource for materials science and engineering research and education in the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill (Triangle) area of North Carolina, a thriving technological and economic hub with a high concentration of materials innovation activity in both academia and industry. The Triangle CEMRI will focus on the study and development of soft matter components to be used in programmable assembly and functional and hybrid materials that result from the assembly of these components. It will synergistically leverage existing and complementary strengths of Duke, NC State, UNC-Chapel Hill and North Carolina Central University, a top-ranked public HBCU. The Triangle CEMRI will have a significant impact in soft matter materials science through generation of (i) new fundamental insights and theoretical understanding, (ii) new design principles, (iii) new applications and uses for colloidal and macromolecular materials and their higher order assemblies, and (iv) an integrated education and outreach program. Understanding, harnessing and exploiting the dynamic processes related to the aggregation of multicomponent particulate and macromolecular assemblies represent significant current frontiers in materials research. Two interdisciplinary research groups (IRGs) comprised of leading researchers in materials theory, simulation, synthesis, processing and applications will surmount these frontiers. A Seed-funding program will also be instituted to allow the extension of the Triangle CEMRI's scope to new areas of soft matter research.IRG1: Multicomponent Colloidal Assembly by Comprehensive Interaction Design. The goal of IRG1 is to develop a fundamental understanding of self-assembly of bulk materials from multi-component suspensions of very small particles (colloids). The team will focus on elucidating the fundamental rules that govern programmed colloidal assembly for materials fabrication by design. Ultimately, this work will have ramifications for the production of hybrid photonic and phononic crystals, anisotropic conducting films, self-healing materials, "smart" gels, metamaterials, and other advanced engineering materials. IRG2: Genetically Encoded Polymer Syntax for Programmable Self-Assembly. The overall goal of IRG2 is to establish the rules for the design of "syntactomers" whose phase behaviors facilitate programming of their self-assembly into supramolecular structures. Syntactomers are macromolecules that consist of a collection of "letters" (monomers that can either be amino acids, nucleotides or synthetic components) are arranged within "words" (repeat units), which are in turn arranged by following a syntax - defined as the arrangement of words - into "phrases" (macromolecules). A new paradigm for macromolecular design will lead to new materials to be used as drug delivery vehicles, actuators, nanofibers, switchable membranes, functional connectors, and scaffolds for mineralization, tissue implants or 3-D cell culture.The Triangle CEMRI will coordinate establishment and access to specialized materials research facilities across the Research Triangle. Its researchers will have access to a global network of research resources, including several national laboratories and laboratories in Europe and Asia. Innovation and technology transfer will be enhanced by the Triangle CEMRI activities aimed at facilitating and catalyzing interactions with both large and small industrial and non-profit commercialization and innovation partners. A comprehensive integration of training, educational and outreach activities will take advantage of the high level of scholarship in materials research and related areas in the Research Triangle area. The overarching goal of the Triangle CEMRI in education, training, and outreach is to infuse materials science, engineering and technology education with a new relevance, excitement and value to audiences ranging from G5-12 students, undergraduate students, graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, to the public sector.* an NSF Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC)