RUI: Independent and Simultaneous Tailoring of Surface Topography and Chemical Structure for Controlled Wettability

Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley MA

Investigators

Abstract

The funds requested in this proposal will support the PI's efforts in uniting productive research and excellence in teaching in the Chemistry Department at Mount Holyoke College. Over the next three years, a research program that involves the independent and simultaneous tailoring of surface topography and chemical structure for controlled wettability will be established and several teaching initiatives that aim to promote polymer chemistry at the undergraduate level will be implemented. The objectives of the proposed research are to nationally control wettability of surfaces by manipulating surface topography and surface chemical structure and to provide a fundamental understanding of the basis of wettability. The research involves: (1) the adsorption of charged polystyrene latex particles to oppositely charged poly(ethylene terephthalate) surfaces to form surfaces with different topographies/roughness, (2) the introduction of discrete functional groups to first smooth and then rough surfaces through organic transformations. The two research stages combine to form a method for preparing robust stable surfaces of variable wettability. The combination of surface topography and density, location and identity of surface-chemical functionality should, in principle, control wettability. Holyoke College undergraduate students will be involved in all phases of this project, from latex particle adsorption, characterization o0f surface topography, organic chemistry transformations of surface functional groups, determination of surface composition, to measurement and interpretation of wettability. The introduction of polymer chemistry to chemical education at Mount Holyoke College is also proposed in order to respond to the new demand of the rapidly changing nature of chemical sciences. We need to get students excited about chemistry, and to reinforce the traditional disciplines of chemistry and show how they can be used. Over the next three years, the PI's efforts in this area will be focused on the following initiatives: mentoring undergraduates carrying out independent research in polymer surface chemistry, designing and teaching a polymer chemistry course, an integrated laboratory course, and a first-year honors tutorial on polymer chemistry, incorporating polymer chemistry into undergraduate introductory courses. ***