EAGER: Dually Photocrosslinkable and Photolabile Polymers for Fabricating Heterogeneous 3D structures

这一早期概念探索性研究(AGER)奖将资助开发具有双重光交联性和光敏性的聚合物。我们将合成一系列的功能性三元聚合物，它们可以在长紫外光波长下进行光交联改性，在短紫外光波长下进行光化学修饰。三元共聚物将由三种类型的单元合成：结构单元、光交联单元和带有光可裂解保护基团的酸单元。光交联单元允许聚合物的结构图案化，并且光可裂解单元允许图案中酸性区域的区域选择性开发。待测试的结构单元包括甲基丙烯酸甲酯、N-异丙基丙烯酰胺和N，N-二甲基甲基丙烯酰胺。将研究聚合动力学，以确定最终组成的可控性。此外，将在薄膜结构中研究交联和去保护的效率。如果成功，这项研究的结果将提供既可结构定义又可光寻址的聚合物。一个主要的目标是将传统的光刻和基于组装的方法相结合，将纳米颗粒异质集成到MEMS设备中。通过使用两种不同波长的光，可光交联性和光敏性聚合物可以被结合到MEMS器件中，然后通过传统的光刻技术进行酸刻画。反过来，酸性区域可以指导纳米颗粒从溶液到纳米制造多功能结构和表面的组装。

This EArly-Concept Grant for Exploratory Research (EAGER) award will fund the development of polymers that are dually photo-crosslinkable and photolabile. A series of functional terpolymers will be synthesized that can be photo-crosslinked at long UV wavelengths and photo-chemically modified at short UV wavelengths. The terpolymers will be synthesized from three types of units: A structural unit, a photo-crosslinkable unit, and an acid unit with a photo-cleavable protecting group. The photo-crosslinking unit permits structural patterning of the polymer, and the photo-cleavable unit permits region-selective development of acidic regions in the pattern. The structural units to be tested include methylmethacrylate, N-isopropylacrylamide, and N,N-dimethylmethacrylamide. The kinetics of polymerization will be studied to establish the controllability of the final composition. Moreover, the efficiency of cross-linking and deprotection will be studied in thin film configurations.If successful, the results of this research will provide polymers that are both structurally definable and photo-addressable. A major goal is to then combine conventional photolithography with assembly-based methods for the heterogeneous integration of nanoparticles into MEMS devices. Through the use of two different wavelengths of light, the photo-crosslinkable and photolabile polymers can be incorporated into MEMS devices and subsequently acid patterned through conventional photolithography. The regions of acidity, in turn, can direct the assembly of nanoparticles from solution to nanomanufacture multi-functional structures and surfaces.