Nanostructured Materials with Percolating Bottlebrush Copolymer Networks

非技术性SUMMARY聚合物膜在水净化、锂离子电池和气体分离等许多具有社会影响的应用中发挥着重要作用。拟议的研究计划将利用具有刷状结构的合成大分子来构建一类具有三维网络的新型聚合物材料，这些材料可以用作聚合物膜，以帮助应对环境和能源相关应用中的各种挑战。通过新开发的合成方法将制备高度可调的分子构建块，使聚合物材料具有纳米级的相互连接的腔和通道，以有效地传输和分离各种分子和离子。拟议的研究活动将促进目前对分子形状、化学和相互作用对材料性能影响的理解，并为实现聚合物材料的结构控制创造新的策略。拟议研究计划的科学方面将与更广泛的推广和教育举措相结合，旨在通过科学研讨会促进思想交流，改善研究生和本科生的培训，并通过教师专业发展加强STEM教育。技术总结本提案中描述的研究旨在通过使用瓶刷共聚物作为共价预先组织的纳米域，开发一种新的具有双连续网络域的纳米结构材料，而不需要自组装。新的化学物质将被编程到瓶刷结构中，以对其交联性和降解行为进行精确控制。具有渗透孔或通道的纳米结构材料和膜将由瓶刷共聚物网络制成。用散射法分析了瓶刷共聚物在浓溶液中的构象行为，用X射线散射和电子显微镜研究了各种结构参数对网络形态的影响。将追求三个具体目标：(1)利用完全可降解的瓶刷致孔剂来制备纳米多孔材料；(2)设计和制备用于储能的纳米结构离子导电膜；(3)通过使用快速交联型瓶刷网络互联器来全固态制造薄膜。这项研究计划的成功成果将提供一个强大的材料设计平台，用于可扩展制造纳米结构材料，该材料具有技术上相关的形状因数的渗透网络，并适用于添加剂制造工艺。这一奖项反映了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 SUMMARYPolymeric membranes play a vital role in a number of societally impactful applications, such as water purification, lithium ion batteries, and gas separations. The proposed research program will take advantage of synthetic macromolecules with a brush-like architecture to construct a new class of polymeric materials with three-dimensional networks that can serve as polymeric membranes to help address a variety of challenges in environmental and energy-related applications. Highly tunable molecular building blocks will be prepared by newly developed synthetic methods to endow the polymeric materials with nanoscopic interconnected cavities and channels for efficient transport and separation of various molecules and ions. The proposed research activities will advance the current understanding of the effect of molecular shape, chemistry and interactions on materials properties, and create new strategies for achieving structural control of polymeric materials. The scientific aspects of the proposed research program will be integrated with broader outreach and educational initiatives aimed at promoting exchange of ideas through a scientific symposium, improving graduate and undergraduate student training, and enhancing STEM education through teacher professional development.TECHNICAL SUMMARYThe research described in this proposal aims to develop a new class of nanostructured materials with bicontinuous network domains without the need for self-assembly by using bottlebrush copolymers as covalently pre-organized nanoscopic domains. New chemistries will be programmed into the bottlebrush architecture to exert precise control over their cross-linking and degradation behavior. Nanostructured materials and membranes with percolating pores or channels will be fabricated from bottlebrush copolymer networks. Conformational behavior of bottlebrush copolymers in concentrated solutions will be analyzed by scattering methods, and the effect of various structural parameters on network morphology will be investigated by x-ray scattering and electron microscopy methods. Three specific objectives will be pursued: (1) fabrication of nanoporous materials by using fully degradable bottlebrush porogens, (2) design and preparation of nanostructured ion conducting membranes for energy storage applications, and (3) all solid state fabrication of thin film membranes by using rapidly cross-linkable bottlebrush network interconnectors. The successful outcome of this research program will provide access to a robust materials design platform for scalable fabrication of nanostructured materials with percolating networks in technologically relevant form factors and suitable for additive manufacturing processes. .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.