RUI: Thermoreversible hydrogen bonding in mesophase formation: Enhancing stability and formation

非技术综述：液晶已成为科技界的中流砥柱，在过去十年中成为领先的显示材料之一。提高对液晶材料稳定性的了解可能会对光学显示器行业产生相当大的影响。该项目将制备将共价物种的稳定性与氢键链结构的愈合能力相结合的液晶系统，通过加入这些基团，PI计划引入重要的新的有益特征，同时提高液晶材料的稳定性。除了该项目的科学影响外，该项目还将加强威斯康星大学的研究基础设施并支持人力资源开发。这所低成本的公立院校有着悠久的本科生/教职员工研究合作的悠久传统，可以与顶尖的文理学院相媲美。因此，很大一部分威斯康星大学的本科生都进入了研究生课程。几乎一半的学生是低收入的第一代学生，大约60%是女性，这两个人在科学界的代表性都很低。所述的研究活动将通过使用尖端设备的实践经验和在国家会议上介绍其研究结果的机会，极大地加强学生的培训和智力发展。技术概述：在材料研究部固态和材料化学项目的支持下，该项目将研究创造新的液晶系统。液晶网络是一个备受关注的领域，这是因为材料能够将介晶导向器的有序性与材料的弹性和变形相耦合。热可逆组件在液晶网络中的应用是一个相对未被研究的领域。利用非共价相互作用组装液晶材料提供了许多有趣的特征，涉及到活的聚合物系统以及液晶自修复和修复宏观结构缺陷的能力。这项工作将对超分子液晶领域产生广泛的影响。这些新的LC组装体的创建将提供对中间相在不利的、受限的(网络)条件下稳定的能力的有价值的洞察，以及对化学计量平衡和高度灵活的非介晶性竞争性组装体的理解。同样的缔合将被用来形成网络和中生元。这种关联将根据网络剂的功能性、氢键接受基团的刚性和网络剂的灵活性而变化。此外，还将研究来自相同起始混合物的不同介元之间的竞争。这个项目的结果将提供对中间相形成的本质的洞察，以及对液晶形成中所涉及的超分子作用力的数量和强度的比较。特别是，在交联化条件下中间相的形成和稳定行为，以及氢键受体的刚性和柔性之间的作用和相互作用，对介元的形成和中间相的稳定性起到了作用。

Non-technical Summary:Liquid Crystals have become a mainstay of the scientific and technological community, emerging as one of the leading display materials of the past decade. An increased understanding of the stability of a liquid crystalline materials could would have considerable impact on the optical display industry. This project will prepare liquid crystalline systems that combine the stabilities of covalent species with the healing capabilities of hydrogen bonded chain structures, and through the incorporation of these groups, the PI plans to introduce important new and beneficial characteristics while at the same time improving the stability of liquid crystalline materials. Beyond the scientific impact of this project, the project will enhance the research infrastructure and support human resource development at the University of Wisconsin- Eau Claire. This low-cost public institution has a long-established tradition of strong undergraduate/faculty research collaboration that rivals those of top liberal arts colleges. As a result, a large fraction of UWEC undergraduates matriculate to graduate programs. Almost half of the student body are low-income, first generation students, and about 60% are female, both of which are underrepresented in the scientific communities. The research activities described will greatly enhance student training and intellectual development through hands-on experience with sophisticated equipment and the opportunity to present their findings at national meetings. Technical Summary: With support from the Solid State and Materials Chemistry program in the Division of Materials Research, this project will study the creation of new liquid crystalline systems. Liquid crystalline networks are an area that has received considerable attention due to the ability of the materials to couple the order of the mesogenic directors to the elasticity and deformation of the materials. The application of thermoreversible assemblies to liquid crystalline networks is a relatively unexamined area. The assembly of liquid crystalline materials using non-covalent interactions offers many interesting features involving living polymeric systems and the ability of the liquid crystals to self-heal and repair macroscale structural defects. This work will have a broad impact on the field of supramolecular liquid crystals. The creation of these new LC assemblies will provide valuable insight into the ability of a mesophase to stabilize in unfavorable, constrained (networked) conditions, as well as an understanding of stoichiometric balance and highly flexible non-mesogenic competitive assemblies. The same associations will be used to form both the networks and the mesogens. This association will vary according to functionality of the networking agent, rigidity of the hydrogen bond accepting group and flexibility of the networking agents. Additionally, the competition of different mesogens arising from identical starting mixtures will be investigated. Results from this project will provide insight into the nature of the formation of a mesophase, and a comparison of the quantity and strength of supramolecular forces involved in the formation of liquid crystals. In particular, the behavior of mesophase formation and stabilization in crosslinked conditions, and the role and interplay between rigidity and flexibility of the hydrogen bond acceptors plays for mesogen formation and mesophase stability.