RUI: Modification and characterization of polymer surfaces with applications in microfluidic neural circuit development

技术摘要：本本科院校研究（RUI）项目将致力于发展对某些氢卤烃溶剂如何用于激活聚合物表面的基本理解，以显着提高气相沉积贵金属薄膜（如Au和Pt）的附着力，这些薄膜在传感器的微制造和聚合物微器件中的互连中具有重要的技术意义。该项目的工作将回答以下广泛的问题：通过在聚合物表面、有机溶剂和沉积金属之间建立刘易斯酸碱加合物，可以改善聚合物、溶剂和金属的哪些相互作用？为了解决这个问题，将使用一系列实验和理论工具来预测、设计和优化实验条件，从而产生促进金属附着力改善的聚合物表面。金和铂薄膜的成功粘附与聚甲基丙烯酸甲酯（PMMA）暴露在各种卤化溶剂。与PMMA相比，具有一系列类似主链和侧链化学成分的聚合物表面将被探索，与PMMA相比，具有不同化学成分但可能表现出类似刘易斯碱性质的材料也将被探索。将研究聚合物表面的图案，以确定溶剂激活方法是否可以与软光刻技术结合使用，以产生与微流控设备兼容的图案特征，这些微流控设备可用于模拟聚合物微芯片上的神经回路发育和功能。材料性质将使用表面分析和显微镜技术的组合进行研究，包括x射线光电子能谱（XPS），原子力显微镜（AFM），衰减全反射红外光谱（ATR-FTIR）以及光谱和成像技术，如光学和电子显微镜以及光谱椭偏仪。本本科院校研究项目（RUI）将研究金属薄膜在聚合物表面上的粘附，并应用于聚合物微器件。詹姆斯麦迪逊大学（James Madison University）和弗吉尼亚大学（University of Virginia）的研究人员将在一个高度跨学科和协作的环境中培养本科生。该项目将在项目期间培训多达15名本科研究人员。学生将接触到聚合物薄膜、表面和界面的加工、改性和表征的材料科学问题。该项目资助的学生将参加与JMU化学本科生研究经验（REU）网站相关的活动，成为JMU每年夏天化学，物理，工程和材料科学领域最多60名其他暑期本科生研究人员的“学者社区”的一部分。他们将有更多的机会与生物学研究生研究人员进行交流，通过一个交换项目，JMU的本科生将在一个夏天前往UVa，反之亦然。最后，该计划将资助两名高中教师在研究环境中工作，学习如何将材料科学应用于中学化学或物理课程。总而言之，该计划有助于广泛影响从高中到研究生阶段的未来科学家的管道，学生接受尖端聚合物材料科学主题和聚合物表面生物应用的培训。

TECHNICAL SUMMARYThis Research at Undergraduate Institutions (RUI) project will address developing a fundamental understanding of how certain hydrohalocarbon solvents can be used to activate polymeric surfaces to significantly improve the adhesion of vapor deposited noble metal thin films such as Au and Pt which are technologically important in the microfabrication of sensors and interconnects in polymer microdevices. Work on this project will answer the following broad question: Which range of polymers, solvents and metal interactions can be improved through the creation of a Lewis acid-base adduct between the polymer surface, the organic solvent, and the deposited metal? In order to address this question, a range of experimental and theoretical tools will be used to predict, design and optimize experimental conditions resulting in polymeric surfaces which promote improved metal adhesion. Successful adhesion of Au and Pt thin films have been demonstrated with poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) exposed to a variety of halogenated solvents. Polymer surfaces with a range of similar backbone and side-chain chemistries compared to PMMA will be explored, as will materials that have a different chemical composition, but may exhibit similar Lewis base properties compared to PMMA. The patterning of polymer surfaces will be studied to determine if solvent activation methods can be used in conjunction with soft-lithographic techniques to produce patterned features compatible with microfluidic devices that can be used to simulate neural circuit development and function on a polymer microchip. Materials properties will be studied using a combination of surface analysis and microscopy techniques including X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), atomic force microscopy (AFM), attenuated total reflection infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR) and spectroscopic and imaging techniques such as optical and electron microscopy and spectroscopic ellipsometry. NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARYThis Research at Undergraduate Institutions (RUI) project will study the adhesion of metal films onto polymeric surfaces with applications in polymer microdevices. Researchers at James Madison University and the University of Virginia will train undergraduate research students in a highly interdisciplinary and collaborative environment. This project will involve the training of up to fifteen undergraduate researchers over the duration of the program. The students will be exposed to materials science issues of the processing, modification and characterization of polymer thin films, surfaces and interfaces. The students funded in this program will be expected to participate in activities related to the NSF Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) site in chemistry at JMU to become part of a "community of scholars" with up to sixty other summer undergraduate researchers each summer in chemistry, physics, engineering and materials science at JMU. They will have further opportunities to interact with graduate researchers in biology through an exchange program with undergraduates from JMU going to UVa for one summer and visa versa. Finally, this program will fund two high school teachers to work in a research environment to learn how materials science can be applied to the secondary school chemistry or physics curriculum. In summary, this program helps serve to broadly impact the pipeline of future scientists from the high school through graduate level with students trained in cutting-edge polymer materials science topics with biological applications of polymer surfaces.