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

我们的研究项目将利用纳米胶体聚合物系统中的约束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并包含在纳米和微尺度的小体积中时，它们开始以不规则的方式表现，更加变化无常，更难以预测。它们的结构和动力学被改变，并表现出独特的物理、机械和化学性质，这些性质不同于块状状态下的相同材料。这种约束效应的起源尚不清楚，但主要归因于形成纳米或微尺度约束所固有的大界面面积。在界面处，被包裹物质的结构和构象与体不同。这可以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内观察到的化学反应性。聚合物链可以被限制在纳米胶体内部、表面或周围，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)利用聚合物前体的限制来促进从加拿大工业产生的废物中提取的聚合物材料的合成(例如。石油和天然气，纸浆和造纸…)。(2)通过研究各种聚合物功能化（聚合物）纳米粒子，深入了解约束程度和化学成分如何影响聚合物的局部行为（动力学、构象），以及这与整体材料特性的关系。(3)开发或改进以约束为设计元素的加工方法，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内的相互作用、构象和反应性，该研究项目将导致具有改进性能的胶体体系的发展和新的设计规则，以制造功能性聚合物/纳米胶体杂化材料。它将用于生产传感器、药物输送系统、水净化膜或防腐涂层等新材料，同时开发工业副产品的增值途径。该项目为在更广泛的材料科学领域培养hqp提供了一个极好的机会，这对制造业具有重要的社会和经济意义，并为他们提供了多学科的培训，为他们进入就业市场做好准备。

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.