CAREER: New Polymeric Material Design at the Interfaces with Biology and Catalysis

<p>The proposed research explores new polymeric material design at two interfaces: (1) materials and biology, and (2) materials and catalysts. At the first interface, high value advanced polymeric materials is targeted by mimicking the structures and strategies used in natural materials. The remarkable combined strength and toughness of muscle protein, titin, appears to derive from their modular structures comprising a linear array of domains, in which each domain is held together by secondary forces. Synthetic polymers will be constructed using molecular nanostructures that simulate the modular, multi-domain design of titin. These materials will be tested a both single molecule and bulk material level. The proposed research at the material-catalysis interface is targeted at developing new polymeric materials from simple commercial monomers. Built upon previous successes, new directions are proposed to expand the scope of using catalysts to control polymers with tunable topologies via catalysis, and design of polymers with unconventional topologies via catalysis. In parallel to the synthetic effort, the physical properties and potential applications for the new polymers will be investigated through collaborations with chemists, materials scientists and engineers on campus and at universities nearby. %%% The PI's educational goal for the next 4-5years is to build a strong polymer materials program at the University of California at Irvine. The current rapid growth of this campus and the cross campus Materials Initiative provide an excellent opportunity to implement this plan. An effort was initiated to integrate the course offerings in polymer science across a few disciplines to foster interdisciplinary interactions and collaborations. The goal in the undergraduate education is to spark their interests in polymer during introducing the basic concepts and essential knowledge of polymer science. Attention will be paid to interactive teaching methods, the relevance of polymers to our society, and the undergraduate laboratory research. The goal in graduate polymer education is to provide students a solid foundation in polymer chemistry by vigorous treatments of the fundamental mechanism, thermodynamics, and kinetics of each type of polymerization while in the meantime cover major research areas and recent progresses in polymer science. These broad topics will be approached in an interdisciplinary manner and the course format will be developed to encourage greater student involvement. In addition to curriculum development, mentoring also figures prominently in laboratory, classroom, and seminar contexts. The proposed research will increase understanding of the molecular mechanisms for achieving excellent material properties based on structural organization at nanoscale and produce materials with potential biomedical applications. Insight into the relation between the molecular properties of these materials and their performance should allow rational materials designs. The proposed research on catalytic route to new polymer synthesis has the potential to make new polymeric materials with complex topologies from simple and readily available monomers. </p>