Well-defined Polymer Composites with Carbon-based Nanostructures

该项目将以Adronov研究小组在碳纳米管聚合物化学方面的专业知识为基础，以获得对聚合物-纳米管相互作用的基本理解。碳纳米管是目前研究最广泛的纳米材料，其市场价值预计到2015年将超过70亿美元。然而，它们仍然有一些明显的限制，阻碍了它们在商业产品中的广泛应用。这项工作的重点是了解聚合物如何影响聚合物-碳纳米管配合物的性质，这具有潜在的广泛应用前景。这项工作涉及共轭聚合物与单壁碳纳米管（SWNTs）之间的非共价或超分子相互作用的研究。Adronov小组先前已经证明，许多共轭聚合物与SWNT表面紧密结合，允许通过改变聚合物结构来调节聚合物-纳米管复合材料的性能。已经制备出可溶于有机溶剂和水的结构，并已被证明在表面纳米管图案和生物传感器的发展中很有用。本提案旨在通过更详细地研究聚合物-纳米管相互作用来推进这项工作。提出了测量结合强度和生产聚合物的方法，这些聚合物只能结合混合物中的一种特定类型的纳米管。纳米管纯化的这些进展有可能提高单壁碳纳米管的商业可行性。此外，我们建议生产可与纳米管可逆结合的聚合物，这样可以通过聚合物在溶液中的相互作用纯化swcnts，然后按需释放以释放原始纳米管。研究人员还提出了几种将swnt均匀分布在聚合物宿主材料中的方法，从而开发出新的导电材料，并将其用于触觉传感应用以及下一代生物传感器中。所有这些项目都将推动碳纳米管研究的进步，使加拿大人能够从中受益。

This project will build on the expertise of the Adronov Research Group in the polymer chemistry of carbon nanotubes to gain a fundamental understanding of polymer-nanotube interactions. Carbon nanotubes are the most widely investigated nano-scale materials in existence, and their market value is projected to exceed $7 billion by 2015. However, they still have several significant limitations that prevent their widespread applicability in commercial products. The focus of the proposed work is to understand how polymers can affect the properties of polymer-carbon nanotube complexes, which have potential widespread applications. The proposed work involves the investigation of non-covalent, or supramolecular interactions between conjugated polymers and single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs). The Adronov Group has previously shown that a number of conjugated polymers bind strongly to the SWNT surface, allowing modulation of the polymer-nanotube composite's properties through variation of the polymer structure. Structures that are soluble in both organic solvents and water have been prepared, and have been shown to be useful in nanotube patterning on surfaces and in the development of biosensors. The present proposal aims to advance this work by investigating the polymer-nanotube interaction in more detail. Methods to measure binding strength and produce polymers able to bind only one specific type of nanotube, out of a mixture, are proposed. Such advances in nanotube purification have the potential to improve the commercial viability of SWNTs. Furthermore, we propose to produce polymers that reversibly bind to nanotubes, such that SWNTs can be purified through polymer interactions in solution, and then released on demand to liberate pristine nanotubes. Several methods to homogeneously distribute SWNTs within polymeric host materials are also proposed, such that new, electrically conductive materials can be developed and used in tactile sensing applications, as well as in next-generation biosensors. All of these projects will drive the advancement of carbon nanotube research toward applications that Canadians can benefit from.