Magnetic-field Control of Ionic Bonds on Polar Surfaces by Design

理解、预测和控制纳米材料与生物实体之间的相互作用对于纳米医学纳米结构的发展至关重要，有助于更有效地诊断和治疗疾病。本研究的主要目标是通过设计和制造混合磁性-铁电纳米结构，通过磁场控制极性铁电表面和带电生物分子之间的纳米级相互作用。这些混合纳米结构集成了铁电纳米材料，一类具有永久和可控电偶极子（因此是“极性”）的纳米材料，以及磁性材料。这项研究将阐明材料之间的相互作用是如何由纳米结构的尺寸和几何形状以及磁场强度决定的。 这将使混合磁性-铁电纳米结构的合理设计能够用于生物和医学应用，例如用于癌症治疗的药物分子的远程控制靶向释放，用于治疗帕金森病的深部脑刺激，以及用于组织再生的增强细胞生长。该项目为所有学生提供了广泛的教育经验，包括跨学科研究培训，并参与了一个专注于高中科学教师专业发展的外展计划。推广活动包括招聘教师在研究人员的实验室进行与项目有关的研究，并组织为期两天的讲习班“纳米连接”。本工作坊旨在向参加者介绍纳米材料和纳米技术的前沿研究课题和应用，并制定相关的课堂活动计划。来自农村学区和代表性不足的群体的科学教师将通过与威斯康星州科学教师协会的合作积极招募。研究生将作为教师的导师参与，以促进相互学习的经验。 纳米材料与生物实体之间的相互作用对于纳米结构的许多生物和医学应用（例如生物传感、药物输送、脑刺激和组织再生）具有根本重要性。本研究的主要目标是通过设计和创建混合磁性铁电纳米结构来实现极性铁电表面和带电生物分子之间的单分子尺度相互作用的磁场控制。这种混合纳米结构将铁电纳米材料（一类具有永久和可控电偶极子的纳米材料）与磁性材料集成在一起。到目前为止，铁电生物分子相互作用仍然在很大程度上在单分子尺度上未被探索。一个具有互补专业知识的团队将进行闭环研究活动，包括（1）混合纳米结构的计算设计，以向下选择其尺寸和几何形状;（2）计算引导的纳米结构制造;和（3）表面极化和铁电生物分子结合强度的纳米级表征，为计算提供反馈。这项研究将促进对无机极性纳米材料和有机生物分子之间纳米级静电相互作用的理解，并通过合理设计混合磁性-铁电纳米结构来满足医疗诊断和治疗中的重要社会需求，从而造福社会。该项目为所有学生提供优秀的跨学科教育和培训机会，并让学生参与高中外展计划。推广计划的目标是为高中科学教师提供独特的专业发展经验，特别是那些来自农村学区和代表性不足的群体。外展活动包括招聘教师在私人研究所的实验室进行与项目有关的研究，以及举办为期两天的工作坊“纳米连接”。本工作坊旨在向参加者介绍纳米材料和纳米技术的前沿研究课题和应用，并制定相关的课堂活动计划。PI将与威斯康星州科学教师协会在教师招聘，项目评估和项目后沟通方面进行合作，以促进课堂活动的实施。成功的示范将由教师在教育会议上提出，并由PI调整为其他大学范围内的外展活动。 该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Understanding, predicting, and controlling the interactions between nanomaterials and biological entities are critical for the development of nanostructures for nanomedicine, facilitating more efficient diagnoses and treatments of diseases. The main goal of this research is to control by magnetic field the nanoscale interactions between the polar ferroelectric surfaces and charged biomolecules by designing and creating hybrid magnetic-ferroelectric nanostructures. These hybrid nanostructures integrate ferroelectric nanomaterials, a class of nanomaterials possessing permanent and controllable electric dipoles (hence are “polar”), together with magnetic materials. This research will clarify how the interactions between the materials are determined by the size and geometry of the nanostructures as well as magnetic field strength. This will enable the rational design of hybrid magnetic-ferroelectric nanostructures for biological and medical applications, such as remotely-controlled targeted release of drug molecules for cancer treatment, deep brain stimulation for treating Parkinson’s disease, and enhancing cell growth for tissue regeneration. The project provides a broad education experience to all students, including interdisciplinary research training, and participation in an outreach program focusing on the professional development of high-school science teachers. The outreach activities include recruiting teachers to perform project-related research in the investigator’s labs and organizing a two-day workshop “Nano Connections”. This workshop aims to introduce the participants to the advanced research topics and applications of nanomaterials and nanotechnology and develop plans for related classroom activities. Science teachers from rural school districts and underrepresented groups will be actively recruited through collaboration with the Wisconsin Society of Science Teachers. Graduate students will be involved as the mentors of the teachers to facilitate a mutual learning experience. Interactions between nanomaterials and biological entities are of fundamental importance for many biological and medical applications of nanostructures such as biosensing, drug delivery, brain stimulation, and tissue regeneration. The main goal of this research is to achieve a magnetic-field control of single-molecule-scale interactions between the polar ferroelectric surfaces and charged biomolecules by designing and creating hybrid magnetic-ferroelectric nanostructures. Such hybrid nanostructures integrate ferroelectric nanomaterials, a class of nanomaterials possessing permanent and controllable electric dipoles, with magnetic materials. To date, the ferroelectric-biomolecule interactions remain largely unexplored at the single-molecule scale. A team with complementary expertise will perform closed-loop research activities including (1) computational design of the hybrid nanostructures for down-selecting their size and geometry; (2) computation-guided nanostructure fabrication; and (3) nanoscale characterization of both the surface polarization and ferroelectric-biomolecule bonding strength to provide a feedback to computation. This research will advance the understanding of the nanoscale electrostatic interactions between inorganic polar nanomaterials and organic biomolecules and will benefit society by enabling the rational design of hybrid magnetic-ferroelectric nanostructures for addressing important societal needs in medical diagnosis and treatment. The project provides excellent interdisciplinary education and training opportunities for all students and involves the students in a high-school outreach program. The goal of the outreach program is to provide unique professional development experiences for high-school science teachers, notably those from rural school districts and underrepresented groups. The outreach activities include recruiting teachers to perform project-related research in the PIs’ labs and organizing a two-day workshop “Nano Connections”. This workshop aims to introduce the participants to the advanced research topics and applications of nanomaterials and nanotechnology and develop plans for related classroom activities. The PIs will collaborate with Wisconsin Society of Science Teachers on teacher recruitment, program assessment, and post-program communication to facilitate the implementation of classroom activities. Successful demonstrations will be presented by the teachers at education conferences and adapted by the PIs for other university-wide outreach events. .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.