This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).
The Organic and Macromolecular Chemistry Program in the Chemistry Division at the National Science Foundation supports Professor Michael F. Mayer at Texas Tech University whose proposed research project is to establish new, controlled synthetic methods to access new compounds composed of interlocked molecular species and new polymeric materials with mobile slip-links (sliding crosslinks) and apply them to the study and advancement of the theory of rubber elasticity. Materials composed of mechanically interlocked molecular-level species often possess novel and substantially different bulk physical properties than materials composed of identical but otherwise non-interlocked molecular-level species. Unfortunately, the current ability to controllably synthesize interlocked molecules is quite limited and synthetic control over the type of entanglement and degree of interlocking is virtually non-existent in macromolecular and polymeric species. This research will result in new processes for accessing classes of polymers known as polypseudorotaxanes, cyclic and acyclic polyrotaxanes, daisy-chain polymers as well as innovative polymeric materials with mobile slip-link crosslinks ? a novel type of polymer crosslink that has not been available in rubbery bulk materials but has been of great interest for several decades.
The new ability to produce polymeric materials with mobile slip-links (sliding crosslinks) will result in new materials which may be ideal candidates for experimental probing to aid development of theoretical models of polymer entanglements. This transformative methodology may, therefore, help advance the understanding of rubber-like elasticity in polymeric materials, a long-standing pursuit of polymer science. Furthermore, by virtue of the unique molecular structure of the proposed materials, the materials are expected to possess novel viscoelastic properties which may make them suitable for a variety of niche applications. The proposed educational activities center on digitally recording and uploading chemistry content to the internet. This will positively impact both the producers and the consumers of the content. The producers, for example chemistry majors, student affiliates of the ACS, undergraduate researchers and Welch Summer Scholars (high school students), will benefit from participating in a truly modern form of pedagogy. The farthest-reaching benefit will be for the consumers, identified as chemistry students, broadly defined, from local, national and international locations, who may freely participate in informal, cyber-enabled, inquiry-based chemistry education in both English and Spanish.
