SusChem/FRG/GOALI: Mechanochemically Based Sustainable Polymers

技术概述这是一个合作研究项目，涉及伊利诺伊大学香槟分校，康奈尔大学和PPG工业之间的伙伴关系。 它将开发利用应力状态变化的聚合物，在没有人为干预的情况下，机械激活化学反应，发出损伤存在的信号，并在任何地方和任何时候发生损伤时启动修复。 通过延长使用寿命减少废物将有助于实现可持续的材料景观。机械响应聚合物是通过将力激活的分子（机械载体）直接连接到聚合物链中而产生的。在聚合物材料损伤之前的应力状态的复杂的空间和时间变化促进机械基团活化，将其转化为用于信号传导或用于引发材料性质的生产性变化的新化学物质。 基于机械化学的可持续聚合物的实现需要具有可以有效激活的放大响应的机械基团基序。拟议的研究需要合成专门用于损伤检测和修复的新型机械载体，实验和计算开发力聚焦策略，以实现有效的力传递到机械载体，并对材料系统进行实验评估。阐明的基本，分子水平的机制，在聚合物中的宏观损伤的机械基团响应将通过共生结合建模和实验。这些科学进步将应用于聚合物的设计和实验评估，这些聚合物可以自我报告和自我修复，以应对张力过载、疲劳和界面分层。非技术总结减少废物是可持续材料领域的关键。塑料是无处不在的工业材料，通过延长寿命和回收利用可以减少塑料的废物。鉴于塑料回收的高能源需求、财务成本和产量有限，延长寿命对生命周期管理至关重要。 拟议的研究计划旨在为工业相关塑料开发分级警告和愈合系统。该技术方法依赖于塑料的合成，该塑料具有被称为机械载体的力敏感分子单元，该分子单元通过损伤被激活。 自报告塑料的进步将通过消除预包装替代品来减少材料消耗和浪费。塑料的自我修复能力可以大大延长这些材料的使用寿命。 本研究项目将涉及伊利诺伊大学和康奈尔大学几名研究生的教育和培训。这些学生将成为与PPG Industries，Inc.密切合作的跨学科研究团队的一员。将科学进步转化为商业上可行的塑料。 自我报告和自我修复的可持续发展的研究主题提供了一个独特的机会，教育和推广到公众。 将制作一系列关于材料如何影响可持续性的教育演示、展览和视频，重点是零浪费。 这些平台将通过网络和特别公众参与活动广泛传播。

TECHNICAL SUMMARYThis is a collaborative research project involving a partnership between the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Cornell University, and PPG Industries. It will develop polymers that utilize changes in stress state to mechanically activate -- without human intervention -- chemical reactions that signal the presence of damage and initiate repair wherever and whenever it occurs. The reduction in waste achieved through lifetime extension will contribute to a sustainable materials landscape. Mechanoresponsive polymers are created by directly linking force-activated molecules (mechanophores) into polymer chains. The complex spatial and temporal changes in stress state that precede damage in polymeric materials promote mechanophore activation, transforming it into a new chemical species for signaling or for initiating productive changes in materials properties. Realization of mechanochemically based sustainable polymers requires mechanophore motifs with amplified responses that can be activated efficiently. The proposed research entails synthesis of new mechanophores specifically for damage detection and repair, experimental and computational development of force-focusing strategies to achieve efficient force transmission to the mechanophore, and experimental evaluation of materials systems. Elucidating the fundamental, molecular-level mechanisms governing mechanophore response to macroscopic damage in polymers will be advanced through symbiotic combination of modeling and experiments. These scientific advancements will then be applied to the design and experimental evaluation of polymers that self-report and self-heal in response to tension overload, fatigue, and interfacial delamination.NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARYWaste reduction is key to a sustainable materials landscape. Plastics are ubiquitous industrial materials and their waste reduction is achievable through life extension and recycling. Given the high energy requirements, financial cost, and limited yield of plastic recycling, life extension is critically important to life cycle management. The proposed research program seeks to develop graded warning and healing systems for industrially relevant plastics. The technical approach relies on the synthesis of plastics with force sensitive molecular units called mechanophores that are activated by damage. Advances in self-reporting plastics will reduce material consumption and waste by eliminating prescheduled replacements. Self-healing capabilities for plastics can drastically extend the service lifetime of these materials. This research project will involve the education and training of several graduate students at the University of Illinois and Cornell University. These students will be part of an interdisciplinary research team working in close partnership with PPG Industries, Inc. to translate scientific advances to commercially viable plastics. The research themes of self-reporting and self-healing for sustainability provide a unique opportunity for education and outreach to the general public. A series of educational demonstrations, exhibits, and videos will be developed on how materials impact sustainability, with emphasis on zero waste. These platforms will be widely disseminated over the web and at special public engagement events.