Design of Stimuli-Sensitive Organic Nanoparticles through Self-Assembly

在这个由化学学部大分子、超分子和纳米化学项目资助的项目中，马萨诸塞大学阿默斯特分校的Sankaran Thayumanavan将开发通过聚合物自组装组装有机纳米粒子的方法。这项研究将包括三个组成部分。在第一部分，该项目将侧重于开发具有明确表面特征的有机纳米颗粒。在第二部分中，聚合物-纳米颗粒配合物将使用纳米颗粒的明确定义的表面官能团和聚合物中存在的互补官能团来生成。最后一部分将涉及发展策略，以引起荧光变化的聚合物-纳米颗粒复合物由于大的分析物分子的存在。该项目的更广泛影响将涉及本科生和研究生的跨学科培训，通过交叉培训学生不仅跨化学子学科，而且跨其他科学学科，将看到这个项目的影响。该项目还将通过参与东北研究生教育和教授联盟计划，帮助扩大代表性不足的群体对STEM研究的参与。纳米技术在当今技术的不同领域的影响始于合成具有明确定义的表面的明确定义的纳米尺寸物体（纳米颗粒）的能力。该研究项目旨在开发合成功能性纳米粒子的新方法，这些纳米粒子可以与蛋白质结合形成复杂的材料或产生可观察的信号。这种纳米颗粒可能会导致影响生物技术的多功能传感技术。

In this project funded by the Macromolecular, Supramolecular and Nanochemistry Program of the Chemistry Division, Sankaran Thayumanavan of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst will develop methods for assembling organic nanoparticles through polymer self-assembly. The research will involve three components. In the first part, the project will focus on the development of organic nanoparticles with well-defined surface characteristics. In the second part, polymer-nanoparticle complexes will be generated using the well-defined surface functional groups of the nanoparticle and the complementary functional groups present in the polymer. The final part will involve development of strategies for eliciting fluorescence changes in the polymer-nanoparticle complexes due to the presence of large analyte molecules. The broader impacts of this project will involve interdisciplinary training of undergraduate and graduate students by cross-training the students not only across the sub-disciplines of chemistry, but also across other scientific disciplines that will see the impacts of this project. The project will also assist in broadening the participation of underrepresented groups in STEM research via participation in the Northeast Alliance for Graduate Education and Professoriate program. Nanotechnology's impact in diverse areas of present day technology starts with the ability to synthesize well-defined nanometer-sized objects (nanoparticles) with well-defined surfaces. This research project seeks to develop fundamentally new ways of synthesizing functional nanoparticles that can bind with proteins to form complex materials or to generate observable signals. Such nanoparticles could lead to versatile sensing technologies that could impact biotechnology.