CAREER: Tunable Isomorphic Architectures

University Of South Carolina At Columbia, Columbia SC

Investigators

Abstract

Non-Technical Abstract: This project aims to develop a general method for the controlled and predictable preparation of nanostructured materials via self-organization molecular process. The ability to control feature sizes in nanomaterials leads to significant performance improvements for a range of practical applications including batteries, fuel cells, and solar cells. Understanding these performance changes, however, has been hampered by a lack of well-defined nanomaterials where each feature could be adjustable independently. Most existing methods fail to deliver systematic control where one feature size is held constant and another is adjusted step-by-step with precision. Access to such nanomaterials can significantly accelerate the research and development of improved energy technologies. Furthermore, the proposed methods are low-cost and scalable to broadly support the industrial manufacturing of better energy technologies that are affordable. An integrated education plan of this project is designed to stimulate interest of broad audiences in advanced nanomaterials and energy-related research. Parts of the activities include educational outreach involving underrepresented students, economically disadvantaged students, and first-generation college students. The project fosters student interest in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) and includes workforce development to address growing needs in advanced nanomaterials and energy technologies. Technical Abstract: Few aspects are as prevalent and important in energy conversion and storage as the structure and dimensions of porous materials. Despite the fundamental and distinct roles of material walls and pores, there remains a challenge for systematic access to well-defined nano-architectures with independent control over the pore and wall dimensions. The connectivity of these transport pathways convolves additional effects, where ideal electrochemical studies require series of systematic architectures with constant morphology symmetry (isomorphic). A new class of programmable materials termed tunable isomorphic architectures (TIA) will uniquely enable broad inquiries that isolate dimension-dependent properties in electrochemical devices. The goal of this career proposal is to establish a platform for the fabrication of TIAs where both the walls and pores are independently tunable from 5 to 500 nm. These tailored nano-architectures will support both fundamental research and the realization of nano-optimized designs. This program uniquely advances kinetic entrapment to overcome the fundamental limitations of equilibrating block copolymers. Here, kinetically-trapped persistent micelle templates (PMT) maintain constant size during the addition of material and thus decouple pore size control from wall-thickness control. Kinetic control is historically difficult to reproduce, a challenge that is now resolved with switchable micelle entrapment to yield reproducible and homogeneous architectures that follow model predictions. The research outcomes will not only advance nanomaterials research, but also generate new knowledge in nanostructure-property relationships using a suite of targeted materials and applications. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.