Composite nanomaterials: small-scale control and mapping, large impact on science and society

这些资金支持我研究小组中的学生继续开发新的纳米材料和分析复杂材料的新方法。我们的科学研究方法既包括基础研究，创造创新的新材料，也包括将这些材料整合到功能设备中的应用工作，这增加了我们产品的价值，并导致技术转让给最终用户(即普通公众)。在我们之前在用于环境传感器的光电器件方面取得成功的基础上，在下一个赠款周期中，我们将设计和创造两类新的光电材料：磁增强等离子和可调超薄有机薄膜。这些多功能材料将成为下一代固态传感器的核心，并形成分子电子学的组成部分。高科技部门和加拿大人的日常生活都将感受到影响，他们需要对偏远地区的饮用水质量进行更方便的检测。在我们探索生物组织纳米力学的重大成就的基础上，我们将扩大我们的工作，将眼组织和人造组织支架中的多尺度机械响应与生物冲击联系起来。我们预计未来五年这项工作将产生两大影响。首先，视网膜疾病的机械力化学指标将提供治疗和预防疾病致盲的新方法，这些疾病影响了如此多的加拿大人。其次，对人工组织支架的多尺度理解将为癌症研究提供更好的体外模型。除了对加拿大人的健康和相关商机的直接好处外，我们开发的新技术和分析还将促进加拿大和国际在软材料和生物医学研究方面的努力。

These funds support the students in my research group, in our continued development of new nanomaterials and new methodologies to analyze complex materials. Our approach to scientific research brings together both fundamental investigation, creating innovative new materials, and the applied work of incorporating these materials into functional devices, which increases the value of our output and leads to technology transfer to end users (i.e. the general public). Building on our prior success with optoelectronic devices for environmental sensors, in this next grant cycle we will design and create two new classes of optoelectronic materials: magnetically enhanced plasmonics and tunable ultrathin organic film. These multifunctional materials will become the core of next--generation solid--state sensors and form integral components of molecular electronics. The impact will be felt in both the high--tech sector and in the everyday lives of Canadians who need more accessible testing for drinking water quality in remote areas. Expanding on our significant achievements in probing the nanomechanics of biological tissue, we will extend our work to link multiscale mechanical response to biological impact, in both eye tissue and in artificial tissue scaffolds. We anticipate two major impacts from this work over the next five years. First, mechano-chemical indicators of retinopathies will inform new approaches to treatment and prevention of blindness from diseases which impact so many Canadians. Second, a multiscale understanding of artificial tissue scaffolds will provide better in vitro models for cancer research. In addition to this direct benefit to the health of Canadians and the associated business opportunities, the new techniques and analyses which we develop will also advance Canadian and international efforts in soft materials and biomedical research.