Organobismuth Copolymers as Tunable High Refractive Index Materials

该项目在夏威夷大学马诺阿分校（UHM）的PI Hyvl实验室和北卡罗莱纳州立大学（NCSU）的Genzer实验室之间建立了强有力的合作。这项研究合作将研究有机和有机金属单体的共聚，产生有关基础聚合物科学的知识，探索各种合成替代品，并确定迄今为止未知的共聚材料的性质。初步结果表明，铋金属聚合物具有异常高的折射率。折射率是描述光通过材料的能力的无量纲数。聚合物的高折射率是光学应用所需要的。我们材料的高折射率和透明度应该转化为可见光和近红外光学的抗反射涂层。该项目将培养一名研究生，该研究生将直接参与UHM和NCSU的聚合物研究并获得实践经验。该奖学金将为高分子化学领域的研究生和本科生提供研究机会，加强下一代科学家和工程师的教育。通过与当地机构的合作，我们将为未被充分代表的夏威夷原住民和太平洋岛民学生提供在我们小组中进行研究的机会。这个RII Track-4 EPSCoR研究人员项目将进一步推动PI Hyvl的职业生涯，并通过加强与北卡罗来纳州立大学（NCSU） Genzer实验室的合作，在夏威夷大学（UHM）建立研究能力。该研究合作将研究有机和有机金属单体的共聚，产生有关基础聚合物科学的知识，探索各种合成替代品，并确定迄今为止未知的共聚材料的性质。该项目利用了PI Hyvl的合成专业知识和NCSU Genzer团队独特而卓越的聚合物表征专业知识。该项目有三个主要目标。(i)合成含铋单体二芳基（4-乙烯基苯基）铋烷（芳基=苯基或甲苯），将在本国机构实验室进行。（二）制备的含铋单体与苯乙烯聚合可得到相应的共聚物。期望研究各种不同的聚合方法和技术，包括自由基和离子聚合，以优选地制备随机或至少伪随机共聚物。合成的共聚物将在主办机构采用通用技术（GPC和MALDI）进行表征。（iii）所制备的共聚物将通过旋涂沉积在玻璃或硅晶圆表面，并将评估透光率和折射率，包括评估共聚物中的单体分布。研究成果将发表在同行评议的期刊上，并将增加校外材料科学资助的机会。UHM将受益于创建新的研究能力和创建新的聚合物化学课程，这是夏威夷首个此类课程。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，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。

The project establishes a robust collaboration between the PI Hyvl’s lab at University of Hawaii at Manoa (UHM) and the Genzer’s lab at North Carolina State University (NCSU). This research collaboration will investigate copolymerization of organic and organometallic monomers, generating knowledge about fundamental polymer science, exploring varied synthetic alternatives, and ascer-taining the properties of hitherto unknown copolymeric materials. The preliminary results demonstrate that the bismuth metallopolymers have an unusually high refractive index. Refractive index is a dimensionless number describing the ability of light to travel through the material. High refractive indices in polymers are desirable for applications in optics. The high refractive index and transparency of our materials ought to translate into anti-reflective coatings for visible light and near IR optics. This project will train one graduate student who will directly participate and get hands-on experience with polymer research both at UHM and NCSU. The fellowship will generate research opportunities for graduate and undergraduate students in the area of polymer chemistry, augmenting the education of the next generation of scientists and engineers. By collaborative partnering with local institutions, will provide opportunities for underrepresented Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander students to do research in our group. This RII Track-4 EPSCoR Research Fellows project will further PI Hyvl’s career and build research capacity at University of Hawaii (UHM) by strengthening a collaboration with the Genzer lab at North Carolina State University (NCSU). The research collaboration will investigate copolymerization of organic and organometallic monomers, generating knowledge about fundamental polymer science, exploring varied synthetic alternatives, and ascertaining the properties of hitherto unknown copolymeric materials. The project leverages PI Hyvl’s synthetic expertise and the unique and premier polymer characterization expertise of the Genzer group at NCSU. The project has three main objectives. (i)The synthesis of bismuth-containing monomers, diaryl(4-vinylphenyl)bismuthane (aryl = phenyl or tolyl), to be carried out at the home's institution laboratory. (ii)Polymerization of prepared bismuth-containing monomers with styrene will afford the corresponding copolymers. It is expected to examine a variety of different polymerization methods and techniques including radical and ionic polymerizations to preferably prepare random or at least pseudorandom copolymers. The synthesized copolymers will be characterized by common techniques (GPC and MALDI) present at the Host Institution. (iii)The prepared copolymers are to be deposited on glass or silicon wafer surfaces through spin-coating and transmittance and refractive indexes will be evaluated, including also evaluation of the monomer distribution in the copolymer. The research outcomes will be published in peer-reviewed journals and will enhance extramural materials science funding opportunities. UHM will benefit by creation of a new research capacity and the creation of a new curriculum on polymer chemistry, the first of its kind in Hawai`i.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.