Fundamentals and Applications of Adhesion in Soft Matter

软物质的粘附对生命科学中的许多现象和许多工程应用都是至关重要的。例如，某些聚合物可以与核酸或药物分子结合形成纳米颗粒。这些纳米颗粒可以增强治疗分子到靶点的运输，为药物传递和基因治疗提供了一种工具。分子在有序结构中的受控粘附，激发了纳米技术中的“自下而上”方法，从而创造出可以用作电子或光学器件的组件。从根本上说，粘附源于分子间的相互吸引。另一方面，许多功能材料的生成需要将分子粘附放大到中观或宏观水平。因此，推进这些新材料的发展需要对分子的集体行为进行研究，从而实现宏观功能。******尽管过去在创造基于分子粘附的新材料方面取得了成功，但这种材料的实验开发仍然主要是在试错的基础上，缺乏系统的设计方法。在这个项目中，我们计划使用计算机建模作为主要工具来研究导致软材料粘附的基本相互作用以及这种粘附在工程应用中的利用。长期目标是实现具有理想体积和界面性能的高性能软材料的系统设计和工程。在短期内，研究将通过涉及软合成聚合物的四个代表性系统进行。通过这些研究，我们计划开发尺度桥接模型，从微观相互作用中描述介观和宏观粘附，并使用开发的模型提出有助于提高这些特定应用中材料性能的设计原则。这个程序是建立在我们丰富的经验和强大的专业知识，在材料建模，跨越非常不同的尺度。特别是我们在分子水平粘附方面的研究得到了我之前DG基金的支持，为本文提出的工作奠定了坚实的基础。******先进材料对于经济增长和人类福祉的许多重要领域的应用至关重要，包括纳米技术、制药科学、生物医学工程、电子工业等。通过计算机建模进行计算机设计是加快新材料创造的有效途径。该计划旨在将微观相互作用与材料的宏观粘附特性联系起来，并提出通过分子水平工程调节材料行为的方法。这些研究成果不仅将提升加拿大在材料科学领域的研究水平，还将帮助加拿大公司设计和合成新型功能材料，提高其在全球市场上的竞争力。

Adhesion in soft matter is crucial to many phenomena in life science and to numerous engineering applications. As examples, certain polymers can bind with nucleic acids or drug molecules to form nanoparticles. These nanoparticles can enhance the transportation of therapeutic molecules to target sites, providing a tool for drug delivery and gene therapy. Controlled adhesion of molecules into ordered structures has motivated “bottom-up” approach in nanotechnology, leading to the creation of assemblies that can serve as electronic or optical devices. Fundamentally, adhesion is rooted in the attractive interactions between molecules. On the other hand, generation of many functional materials requires scale-up of molecular adhesion to meso- or macroscopic levels. Advancing the development of these novel materials therefore requires investigation on the collective behaviors of molecules that render macroscopic functions.******Despite past successes in creating new materials based on molecular adhesion, experimental development of such materials is still largely on a trial-and-error basis, lacking a systematic design approach. In this program, we plan to use computer modeling as a main tool to study fundamental interactions contributing to adhesion in soft materials and the utilization of such adhesion in engineering applications. The long-term goal is to achieve systematic design and engineering of high performance soft materials with desired bulk and interfacial properties. In the short term, studies will be conducted through four representative systems that involve soft synthetic polymers. Through these investigations, we plan to develop scale-bridging models that describe meso- and macroscopic adhesion from microscopic interactions, and use the developed models to propose design principles that help improve material performance in these specific applications. This program is built on our rich experience and strong expertise in materials modeling, across very different scales. In particular, our research on molecular-level adhesion supported by my previous DG funding has laid a solid foundation for the work proposed here.******Advanced materials are essential to applications in many areas important to economic growth and human well being, including nanotechnology, pharmaceutical science, biomedical engineering, electronic industry, among others. In silico design via computer modeling is an effective way to expedite the creation of new materials. The proposed program aims at linking microscopic interactions to macroscopic adhesive properties of materials, and proposing ways to modulate material behavior by molecular-level engineering. The research outcomes will not only elevate Canada's research profile in materials science, but also help Canadian companies in the design and synthesis of novel functional materials, improving their competence in the global market.