International Collaboration in Chemistry: Mechanochemical Probes of Supramolecular Polymer Networks

在这个美国研究人员与国外同行之间的国际化学合作(ICC)项目中，由化学部和国际科学与工程办公室的大分子、超分子和纳米化学计划资助，杜克大学的Stephen Craig将开发一种分子化学策略来表征和了解键断裂在聚合物机械故障中的作用。这项工作包括与荷兰埃因霍温科技大学的林特·西贝斯马教授进行的国际合作。教授们。西贝斯马的工作将由荷兰组织Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek(NWO)资助。该方法是合成含有二氧杂环己烷基团的聚合物作为链断裂的发光探针，并利用最近发展的基于超声波的技术来表征聚合物的溶液相链断裂和光电子能谱。从这些研究中获得的知识将被应用于理解键断裂事件在主体聚合物样品以及较新的超分子聚合物网络的机械破坏机制中所起的作用。更广泛的影响包括培养研究生和本科生，为这些学生的培训和教育增加国际维度，通过建立这种双边国际合作来加强研究和教育的基础设施，将这项工作的研究概念纳入高中推广活动，并通过在会议和出版物上发表演讲来广泛传播研究成果。塑料存在于日常生活的许多方面，包括食品包装、汽车和航空航天运输的结构材料，以及轻型电子设备。这项工作可能导致新的设计原则，以制造更坚固的塑料，可用于制造高性能、轻量化的产品，适用于一系列应用。

In this International Collaboration in Chemistry between US Investigators and their Counterparts Abroad (ICC) project funded by the Macromolecular, Supramolecular and Nanochemistry Program of the Chemistry Division and the Office of International Science and Engineering, Stephen Craig of Duke University will develop a molecular chemical strategy to characterize and understand the role of bond scission in the mechanical failure of polymers. This work includes an international collaboration with Prof. Rint Sijbesma of the Eindhoven University of Technology, The Netherlands. Profs. Sijbesma's work will be funded by De Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (NWO). The approach is to synthesize polymers that contain dioxetane groups as luminescent probes of chain scission and to characterize the solution phase chain scission and photoemission from the polymers using a recently developed ultrasound-based technique. Knowledge gained from these studies will then be applied to understanding the roles bond scission events play in the mechanism of the mechanical failure of bulk polymer samples as well as newer supramolecular polymer networks. The broader impacts involve training graduate and undergraduate students, adding an international dimension to the training and education of these students, enhancing infrastructure for research and education through establishing this bilateral international collaboration, incorporating research concepts from this work into a high school outreach activity, and broadly disseminating research results through presentations at conferences and publications.Plastics are found in many facets of everyday life, including food packaging, structural materials for automotive and aerospace transportation, and lightweight electronic devices. This work might lead to new design principles to make stronger plastics which could be used to manufacture high performance, lightweight products for a range of applications.