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体平台（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装置的开发。响应特定化学信号的流体流动和跨长度尺度的（自我）调节对于实现下一代智能微纳米级器件至关重要；它为当前的微流体技术提供了创新的替代方案，并建立了高效和自主的化学合成，传感和输送模式。该奖项的发现将通过揭示分子尺度催化化学、化学网络和受限微流体几何中的宏观传输之间复杂的相互作用，产生变革性的影响。通过对学生的合作培训，这项工作将有助于培养科学和工程领域的下一代劳动力，这些领域越来越需要跨学科的专业知识。该奖项将研究分子尺度化学对微尺度受限流体流动的基本影响，反过来，微观流动对微室化学动力学的影响。合作团队拥有独特和必要的技能来开展这项雄心勃勃的研究，该研究将通过三个互补的工作包进行，每个工作包的发现揭示了不同长度和时间尺度的基本现象。第一个工作包集中在微流体系统的多材料3D微打印上，第二个目标是由表面和可变形桩上的酶激活的主动泵送机制。第三个工作包在DNA链位移反应网络中实现了在后阵列上的叠加自组织信号图案化过程。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，在受限流体中化学诱导运动和自组织的新模式将被揭示。此外，传递化学信息的自我调节材料将被创造出来，以驱动和控制微观到宏观尺度流体系统的自主传输。该奖项将促进从基础流体力学和催化到化学工程和工艺设计等一系列不同领域的知识和理解。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“密闭空间中的化学和传输（NSF-DFG）”机会获得的，这是一项由美国国家科学基金会和德国科学研究协会（DFG）参与的合作征集。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 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.