Herein we propose the development of new synthetic strategies that will lead to a variety of new soft materials that should have unique properties. We plan to synthesize these new materials by combining the state-of-the-art in traditional polymer synthesis methodologies with recent breakthroughs in soft lithography that we have pioneered called Particle Replication in Non-wetting Templates (PRINT®). What we hope to try to achieve is the synthesis of mesoscopic variants of conventional polymers that we will call ?meso-polymers?. By ?meso-polymers? we mean molded polymeric objects that are filamentous in nature that have length to diameter ratios that rival that of synthetic polymers. This has never been achieved before. It will be very interesting to see if we can synthesize meso-polymers having various and tunable solubility parameters (varying degrees of hydrophilic, hydrophobic, fluorous phases); various degrees of stiffness (analogy to rod-coil polymers); controllable lengths (% compositions); and connectivity (ABA, ABC, ABABA, etc). If we can achieve such high aspect ratios, meso-polymers should provide great insight into how polymers entangle and form higher order structures. The proposed research effort has three aims involving the attempted i) synthesis of meso-polymers; ii) the characterization of the physical properties of single-phase meso-polymers; and iii) the synthesis and mesoscopic characterization of multi-phase meso-polymers.
NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY: Polymers are long chain molecules with very high length to diameter ratios that impact our everyday lives as plastics, coatings, adhesives, and rubbers. They are found in everything from acrylic paints and rubber tires to plastic bottles, bulletproof glass, and computer keyboards. The fabrication of polymers results in materials that have a distribution of lengths and, due to the fibrous nature of polymers, are entangled with one another. Making polymers out of more than one material is very complicated and introduces composition as another variable. To further the science and understanding of this important class of unique materials, we propose to fabricate precisely controlled polymer mimics that we term ?meso-polymers.? The meso-polymers will be fabricated using a molding technique called PRINT® that is akin to baking muffins in a muffin pan but on a much much smaller scale. Using PRINT, meso-polymers will be fabricated out of a variety of materials with very high aspect ratios approaching 10 million! The successful synthesis of these materials will have a significant impact on the polymer science community. It is expected that meso-polymers will have fundamentally different characteristics from conventional polymer molecules and it is anticipated that the success of this program will change the way people think about polymer molecules and indeed new physics will have to be invoked to understand the properties and characteristics of these materials. In addition to advancing the understanding of polymeric materials, this project will also promote teaching, training and entrepreneurship. Graduate students will learn how to solve problems by starting with polymer synthesis moving to material properties and applications. Anticipating that we will have a breakthrough with this program, several initial patent applications will inevitably be developed which will be done by the student co-workers on this project. Such patents will protect our ability to do translational science and engage the outside community to address heretofore unmet needs in numerous fields. The filing of these patents and the multi-disciplinary interactions will also provide great educational experiences for the students involved. Additionally, it is expected that the research results will be incorporated, where appropriate, into the teaching of undergraduate organic chemistry and of graduate polymer chemistry to help students appreciate the utility of basic concepts and the translational opportunities of innovation.
