Hampton-Brandeis Partnership for Research and Education in Materials

非技术摘要：汉普顿大学是一所私立的历史悠久的黑人学院和大学(HBCU)，成立于1868年，其使命是教育那些走出去教书和领导社区内的非裔美国人。这所大学是一所综合性的高等教育机构，致力于促进学习，培养品格，为有前途的学生提供领导和服务岗位的准备。汉普顿大学和布兰迪斯大学材料研究科学与工程中心(MRSEC)之间的汉普顿-布兰代斯材料研究与教育伙伴关系(PREM)包括加强和扩大这两个机构之间的合作研究和教育。Hampton-Brandeis Prem的总体目标是提高材料科学和工程相关领域有才华的少数族裔学生的招生、留住和毕业率。此外，一个重要的辅助目标是提高汉普顿的研究能力和生产率。PREM将增加材料科学和工程研究职业领域的非裔美国人和女性学生的数量，并显着增加为创新和发现做出贡献的科学家和工程师的供应，以推动美国经济的增长。这将通过以下方式实现：(1)增加本科生和研究生参与材料科学研究活动的人数，(2)实施PREM教授之路(PTP)博士后奖学金计划，为HBCU培养一批新的早期职业教师，(3)为汉普顿路地区的中学生和高中生制定可持续的材料科学和工程外展计划，以及(4)由所有汉普顿PREM参与者增加材料科学和工程与连续课程观众之间的交流。Hampton-Brandeis Prem的总体目标是作为催化剂，招募和留住在材料科学和工程领域从事研究事业的有才华的学生。技术概述：Hampton-Brandeis Prem研究致力于研究用于微流体和光流体应用的光子材料的光响应性、光活性和光电特性。推力1的研究旨在通过将已知的具有多种自组装基序的二肽衍生物与具有金属结合功能的新型芳拉唑类分子光开关相结合，开发一种新型的可光开关的低分子凝胶。在推力2中，将设计光活性生物材料，并将研究其与细胞的相互作用，以评估其作为细胞外基质替代物的能力，通过诸如降解、生长因子释放和可适应/可调节的机械性能等指标。将开发荧光蛋白酶敏感多肽(FPSP)序列，随后将确定FPSP在聚氨酯铸型中的临界交联密度，以实时可视化/定量细胞蛋白分解活性。专注于光电材料的推进器3将研究混合卤化物钙钛矿和半导体。混合卤化物钙钛矿开发的拟议研究将包括商业前驱体的提纯研究、基于溶液的合成、固相力化学合成和熔体结晶。将进行使用稀土和过渡金属离子的掺杂研究，以探索改善长期稳定性以及扩大UV-Vis和IR光谱区域的发射波长覆盖范围。此外，该研究还将集中于用于光流控应用的硅、化合物半导体和混合卤化物钙钛矿材料的表征。这项研究的目的是确定材料的光学性能(发射、吸收、透明度等)、支持微流控制造过程的机械性能以及用于电路和材料异质接口的电学性能。最后，将进行研究，以探索少数民族材料科学本科生的身份(科学、种族和性别)以及他们参与PREM如何影响他们在材料科学领域的招生、保留和成就。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Non-technical Summary:Hampton University is a private Historically Black College and University (HBCU) founded in 1868 with the mission to educate African-Americans who would go out and teach and lead people within their community. The university is a comprehensive institution of higher education, dedicated to the promotion of learning, building of character and preparation of promising students for positions of leadership and service. The Hampton-Brandeis Partnership for Research & Education in Materials (PREM) between Hampton University and Brandeis University Materials Research Science & Engineering Center (MRSEC) includes the strengthening and expansion of collaborative research and education between these two institutions. The overall goal of the Hampton-Brandeis PREM is to increase recruitment, retention, and graduation rates of talented minority students in materials science and engineering related fields. In addition, an important ancillary goal is to increase the research capacity and productivity at Hampton. The PREM will increase the number of African-American and women students in materials science and engineering research careers and markedly expand the supply of scientists and engineers contributing to innovation and discovery to fuel the growth of the American economy. This will be accomplished by: (1) increasing the number of undergraduate and graduate students participating in materials science research activities, (2) implementing the PREM Path-to-Professorship (PtP) Post-doctoral Fellowship Program to prepare a new cohort of early career faculty for HBCUs, (3) developing a sustainable outreach program in materials science and engineering for middle and high school students in the Hampton Roads region and (4) increasing communication of materials science and engineering to audiences across the continuum, from peers to general public, by all Hampton PREM participants. The Hampton-Brandeis PREM's overall goal is to serve as a catalyst for the recruitment and retention of talented students pursuing research careers in materials science and engineering fields. Technical Summary:The Hampton-Brandeis PREM research seeks to study the photo-responsive, opto-active, and optoelectric properties of photonic materials for microfluidic and optofluidic applications. The proposed research for Thrust 1 aims to develop a new type of photoswitchable low-molecular-weight-gelators by integrating dipeptide derivatives which are known to be versatile self-assembly motifs, with a novel family of arylazopyrazole based molecular photoswitches possessing metal binding functionality. In Thrust 2, opto-active biomaterials will be designed and their interactions with cells will be studied to assess their capabilities of being extracellular matrix surrogates, through metrics such as degradation, growth factor release and adaptable/tunable mechanical properties. Fluorogenic protease-sensitive peptide (FPSP) sequences will be developed, and subsequently, the critical cross link density of FPSPs in polyurethane casts will be determined to visualize/quantify cellular proteolytic activity in real-time. Thrust 3, which focuses on opto-electronic materials, will investigate mixed halide perovskites and semiconductors. The proposed research on the development of mixed halide perovskites will include purification studies of commercial precursors, solution-based synthesis, solid-state mechano-chemical synthesis, and crystallization from the melt. Doping studies using rare earth and transition metal ions will be performed to explore improved long-term stability as well as extended emission wavelength coverage in the UV-VIS and IR spectral region. In addition, the research will focus on the characterization of silicon, compound semiconductors, and mixed halide perovskite materials for optofluidic applications. The study aims to determine the optical properties (emission, absorption, transparency, etc.), mechanical properties to support microfluidic fabrication processes, and the electrical properties for circuitry and heterogeneous interfacing of materials. Lastly, research will be conducted to explore how the identities (science, racial and gender) of minority materials science undergraduates and their participation in PREM impact their recruitment, retention and achievement in materials science.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.