Collaborative Research: NSF-DFG: Confine: Sculpting Confined Fluids for Transport using Self-Organization and Information Transfer

该奖项的目的是创建微流控平台(微米级液体通道)，利用化学反应释放的能量并执行持续的机械工作，最终实现具有自主仿生功能的便携式流体设备的开发。根据特定的化学信号对流体流动和传输进行(自我)调节，对于实现下一代智能微纳器件至关重要；它能够创新地替代当前的微流控技术，并建立高效和自主的化学合成、传感和输送模式。该奖项的发现将产生革命性的影响，揭示分子规模的催化化学、化学网络和受限微流体几何图形中的宏观传输之间的复杂相互作用。通过对学生的协作培训，这项工作将有助于发展科学和工程领域的下一代劳动力，这些领域越来越需要跨越一系列学科的专业知识。该奖项将考察分子尺度化学对受限流体微尺度流动的基本影响，以及反过来，微观流动对微腔中化学动力学的影响。合作小组拥有进行这项雄心勃勃的研究的独特和必要的技能，这项研究将通过三个互补的工作包进行，每个工作包的调查结果揭示了不同长度和时间范围内的基本现象。第一个工作包专注于微流控系统的多材料3D微打印，第二个工作包针对由表面和可变形柱上的酶实现的主动泵送机制。第三个工作包在柱阵列上实现了叠加的自组织信号图案化过程，该过程产生于DNA链置换反应网络。后一种反应网络将与酶的主动泵送和流体流动的雕刻相结合。通过这些研究，将发现在受限流体中化学诱导的运动和自组织的新模式。此外，还将创建传递化学信息的自我调节材料，以驱动和控制微观到宏观尺度的流体系统的自动运输。这一奖项将促进一系列不同领域的知识和理解，从基础流体力学和催化到化学工程和工艺设计。由于流动和反馈是非平衡过程，这些研究也将为探索结构、动力学和非平衡行为之间的关系提供新的平台。该项目是通过“受限空间中的化学和运输(NSF-DFG Confinit)”机会获得的，这是一个由国家科学基金会和德国科学基金会(DFG)共同参与的征集活动。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力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 aim of this award is to create microfluidic platforms (micrometer-scale liquid channels) that harness energy released from chemical reactions and perform sustained mechanical work, ultimately enabling the development of portable fluidic devices with autonomous, biomimetic functionality. The (self-)regulation of fluid flow and transport across length scales in response to specific chemical signals is critical for realizing next generation smart micro- & nano-scale devices; it enables innovative alternatives to current microfluidic technology and establishes efficient and autonomous modes of chemical synthesis, sensing, and delivery. The findings from this award will have a transformative impact by uncovering the complex interplay among molecular-scale catalytic chemistry, chemical networks, and macroscopic transport in confined microfluidic geometries. Through collaborative training of the students, the work will contribute to the development of the next generation work force in scientific and engineering fields, which are ever increasingly requiring expertise across a range of disciplines.This award will examine the fundamental effects of molecular-scale chemistry on microscale flow of confined fluids, and, conversely, the effect of microscopic flow on chemical kinetics in microchambers. The collaborative team encompasses the unique and necessary skills to pursue this ambitious research, which will be performed through three complementary work packages, with findings from each work package revealing fundamental phenomena across different length and time scales. The first work package concentrates on multi-material 3D microprinting of microfluidic systems, the second targets active pumping mechanisms enabled by enzymes on surfaces and deformable posts. The third work package implements a superimposed self-organizing signal patterning process at the post arrays, arising from DNA strand displacement reaction networks. The latter reaction networks will then be coupled to active pumping by enzymes and sculpting of fluid flows. Through these studies, new modes of chemically induced motion and self-organization within confined fluids will be uncovered. Additionally, self-regulating materials that transmit chemical information to drive and control autonomous transport of micro- to macro-scale fluidic systems will be created. This award will advance knowledge and understanding across a range of different fields, from fundamental fluid mechanics and catalysis to chemical engineering and process design. Since flow and feedback are non-equilibrium processes, these studies will also provide new platforms for probing relationships among structure, dynamics, and non-equilibrium behavior.This project was awarded through the “Chemistry and Transport in Confined Spaces (NSF-DFG Confine)" opportunity, a collaborative solicitation that involves the National Science Foundation and Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG).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.