This CAREER award to Vicki L. Colvin at Rice University is supported by the Advanced Materials Program in the Chemistry Division. The main focus of the research will be the behavior and properties of nanomaterials from two different aspects. The first project will address the nature of the interface between nanoparticles such as zinc selenide, titania and zirconia and polymers such as polyacrylates and polymethacrylates. By exploiting the recent advances in the size and and surface control of inorganic nanoparticles, model interfaces will be chemically created. The effect of the interfaces on the bulk polymer structure will be explored by NMR and thermomechanical analysis. Atomic force microscopy will be used as a nanomechanical probe of the interfacial region. The second project will exploit the ability to create clusters of different sizes to probe the origins of disorder in glass. The stability of disordered silica clusters will be measured by monitoring the temperature and/or pressure at which the systems undergo structural changes. The size dependence of cluster stability over the 1 to 100 nm range will provide an important test for models of glass formation. Size transformations will be probed by vibrational spectroscopy. These projects will help bridge the gap between the laboratory synthesis of nanoscale solids and their ultimate use in real world technologies. The teaching aspect of this CAREER award will focus on the synergy between basic and applied science in the area of materials. A graduate level course will be developed that provides students with an appreciation of technological issues. The curriculum will focus on the technical assessment of three to four emerging technologies which rely on complex materials such as read-writeable CD disks or electroluminescent flat panel displays. Students will combine technical data from the literature and analysis of potential markets to evaluate the potential for these new applications. This approach will also benefit undergraduate level courses, especially physical chemistry. Examples suggested by the graduate course, such as the photophysics of a laser printer will be used in lectures to illustrate the wide-ranging applications of physical chemical principles.
