Controlling and harnessing the effects of nanoconfinement in colloidal polymers and polymer-colloid hybrids

我们的研究计划将利用纳米胶体聚合物系统中的限制效应来开发新一代功能材料。当聚合物、胶体和小分子被限制和包含在小的纳米和微尺度体积内时，它们开始以不规则的方式行为，更反复无常，更不可预测。它们的结构和动力学会发生变化，并显示出与相同材料在块状状态下不同的独特的物理、机械和化学性质。这种限制效应的起源人们知之甚少，但主要归因于纳米或微米尺度限制的形成所固有的大界面面积。在界面处，被包裹的物种的结构和构象与本体不同。这可能会影响所采用的分子结构、形成的分子间相互作用以及在受限几何图形中观察到的化学反应活性。聚合物链可以被限制在纳米胶体内、纳米胶体上或纳米胶体周围，纳米胶体系统产生的限制效应可以影响聚合物材料从合成到最终行为的不同阶段。该计划的目标是：(1)利用聚合物前驱体的限制来促进从加拿大工业产生的废物(例如，石油和天然气、纸浆和纸张等)。(2)通过对各种聚合物功能化(聚合物)纳米粒子的研究，加深对限制程度和化学组成如何影响聚合物的局部行为(动力学、构象)以及这如何与整体材料性能的关系的理解。(3)开发或改进加工方法，将限制作为设计元素，并将这些纳米胶体系统转化为有利于最终用户的材料。通过探索如何调节和控制受限聚合物体系中的相互作用、构象和反应性，该研究计划将导致开发具有更好性能和新设计规则的胶体体系，以制备功能聚合物/纳米胶体杂化材料。它将用于生产传感器、药物输送系统、净水膜或防腐涂料等新材料，同时开发工业副产品的价态路线。该计划是在更广泛的材料科学领域培训HQP的绝佳机会，该领域对制造业具有重要的社会和经济意义，并为他们提供多学科的形成，为他们进入就业市场做准备。

Our research program will harness the effects of confinement in nanocolloidal polymer systems to develop a new generation of functional materials. When polymers, colloids and small molecules are confined and contained within small nano- and micro-scale volumes, they start to behave in an irregular manner, more fickle and less predictable. Their structure and dynamics are altered, and they display unique physical, mechanical and chemical properties that are different from the same material in a bulk state. The origins of this confinement effect are poorly understood but primarily ascribed to the large interfacial area inherent to the formation of nano- or micro- scale confinements. At the interface, the structure and conformation of the entrapped species differ from the bulk. This can affect the molecular structure adopted, the intermolecular interaction formed, and the chemical reactivity observed within the confined geometries. Polymer chains can be confined within, on, or around nanocolloids, and the confinement effect generated by nanocolloidal systems can influence polymer materials at different stages, from their synthesis to their final behavior. The goals of the program are: (1) To use the confinement of polymer precursors to promote the synthesis of polymer materials derived from waste products generated by the Canadian industry (eg. oil and gas, pulp and paper, .). (2) To develop a deeper understanding of how the degree of confinement and the chemical composition affect the local behavior (dynamics, conformation) of the polymers and how this relates to the global material properties by studying a variety of polymer-functionalized (polymer) nanoparticle. (3) To develop or improve processing methods to use the confinement as a design element and convert those nanocolloidal systems into materials that can benefit end-users. By exploiting how the interactions, conformations, and reactivities within confined polymer systems can be tuned and controlled, this research program will lead to the development of colloidal systems with improved properties and new design rules to fabricate functional polymer/nanocolloid hybrid materials. It will be used to produce new materials like sensors, drug delivery systems, water purification membranes, or anticorrosion coatings, while developing valorization routes for industrial by-products. This program represents an excellent opportunity to train HQPs in the broader area of material sciences, which is of great social and economic importance for the manufacturing sector and provides them with a multidisciplinary formation preparing them for the job market.