CAS: Harnessing the disordered state in block polymer materials for high-efficiency separations

PART 1: NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY

Ready access to clean water is a pressing global challenge that represents one of the most important sustainability issues we face as a society. Desalination of sea water and wastewater remediation/reuse are two prevalent solutions that will benefit from new advances in basic materials research. These approaches to generating clean water for consumption rely on the use of membranes endowed with material properties designed to optimize separations performance. This research project focuses on new state-of-the-art polymeric materials designed to address key limitations that must be overcome to further advance understanding and efficacy of materials used in membrane-based separations. The objectives are to design and advance the use of block polymer materials for membranes using a combination of contemporary polymer synthesis, thorough materials characterization, and integration of new macromolecules into practical separation membranes. The research promises to benefit society through the eventual development of new technologies that render water purification and remediation more economical and more widely accessible. Membranes will play important roles in a sustainable water future and the fundamental underpinnings achieved in this work will help solidify the foundations from which new technologies will be built. The work will also build diverse STEM talent though partnerships that include the NorthStar STEM Alliance, American Chemical Society's Project SEED, and the University of Minnesota's Science for All group.

PART 2: TECHNICAL SUMMARY

The research work centers around the design, development, and deployment of block polymer centric strategies that rely on the self-assembly of novel compounds to take advantage of their nanostructured morphologies. Co-continuous nanostructures are essential to advance the design of materials for next-generation water purification membranes, and this research will advance knowledge useful for the creation of co-continuous nanostructured polymer materials that are useful for aqueous-based separations. The essential feature of the program emphasizes the preparation of materials with co-continuous nanostructures by capitalizing on the disordered state of block polymer derived materials. The work will advance knowledge in two main categories. The first is based on a thermodynamic approach that entails trapping a disordered co-continuous morphology in the thermodynamically stable disordered state using pre-formed block polymers. The second is based on a kinetic approach that entails trapping the disordered state during the in-situ synthesis of block polymers in a system that is conducive to chemical fixation through crosslinking. The fundamental and basic research efforts will advance knowledge in these two arenas, will contribute to the basic understanding of block polymer thermodynamics, and will ultimately allow for new technologies to be built that contribute to sustainable access to clean water.

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.