2D Material Programming for 3D Manufacturing of Soft Conductive Materials

这笔赠款支持创造新知识的研究，以编程聚合物材料的形状，用于可伸缩和可定制的软导电材料的3D制造。制造过程将打印用空间控制信息编码的2D材料，允许该结构稍后转变为预定的3D结构。这种2D可打印3D制造技术为设计和制造软工程系统提供了新的方法，包括基于环境响应型、形状变形3D材料的软工程系统。这一概念适用于广泛应用的各种长度范围内的其他材料系统，包括软电子设备、软机器、可展开系统、可穿戴设备、人机界面和能量存储设备。这项研究有助于维持美国在先进制造业方面的全球领导地位，并使美国经济和社会受益。该研究项目为培养具有添加剂制造、软材料和计算机科学专业知识的下一代多学科研究人员提供了发展机会，通过研究和教育的整合加强以研究为导向的多学科教育，并通过博物馆和夏令营推广计划吸引K-12学生和普通公众学习科学、技术、工程和数学。这些活动还将扩大未被充分代表的少数族裔学生对科学和工程的参与。将二维材料变形为可编程的三维结构，为可编程软材料的加法制造提供了一条新的途径。尽管它作为一种可扩展、可定制和可部署的制造技术具有潜力，但缺乏可编程材料以及如何设计它们仍然是一个关键挑战。这种3D成型方法大多局限于针对水环境中生物灵感和生物医学应用的软组织状水凝胶。这项研究通过设计和编程由水凝胶和离子弹性体组成的双网络聚合物系统来研究导电结构的方法，使软导电材料的3D结构能够进行可扩展和可定制的制造。研究开发了一种基于算法开发的逆向设计策略，通过确定非高斯曲率结构的形成过程，研究和开发了非高斯曲率结构的形成方法。研究团队将探索如何为2D离子液体聚合物的3D制造编程，研究如何控制并从而增强离子液体聚合物的机械性能，以制造具有增强机械性能的软导电材料的3D结构，并开发环境响应型软导电材料的形状变形3D结构。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。

This grant supports research that creates new knowledge to program the shape of polymeric materials for scalable and customizable 3D manufacturing of soft conductive materials. The manufacturing process will print 2D materials encoded with spatially controlled information allowing the structure to later transform into predetermined 3D structures. This 2D printable 3D manufacturing technology provides new ways to design and fabricate soft engineering systems, including those based on environment-responsive, shape-morphing 3D materials. The concept is applicable to other material systems over a range of length scales for broad applications, including soft electronic devices, soft machines, deployable systems, wearable devices, human–machine interfaces, and energy storage devices. This research contributes to sustaining global leadership of the United States in advanced manufacturing and benefit the United States economy and society. The research project provides opportunities for the development of developing the next generation of multidisciplinary researchers with expertise in additive manufacturing, soft materials, and computer science, enhance research-oriented multidisciplinary education through integration of research and education, and engage K-12 students and the general public in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics through museum and summer camp outreach programs. These activities will also broaden participation of underrepresented minority students in science and engineering. Morphing 2D materials into programmed 3D structures presents a new approach to the additive manufacturing of programmable soft materials. Despite its potential as a scalable, customizable, and deployable manufacturing technology, lack of programmable materials and how to design them remain a key challenge. Such 3D shaping approaches have mostly been limited to soft tissue-like hydrogels directed at bioinspired and biomedical applications in aqueous environments. This research investigates approaches to electrically conductive structures through the design and programming of the dual network polymer system consisting of hydrogels and ionoelastomers enabling scalable and customizable manufacturing of 3D structures of soft conductive materials. The research investigates and develops approaches for the formation of structures with non-Gaussian curvature through the determination of the formation process using an inverse design strategy based on algorithm development. The research team will explore how to program 2D ionic liquid-based polymers for their 3D manufacturing, investigate how to control and thus enhance the mechanical properties of ionic liquid-based polymers to manufacture 3D structures of soft conductive materials with enhanced mechanical properties, and develop environment-responsive shape-morphing 3D structures of soft conductive materials.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.