| NSF Org: |
OISE Office of International Science and Engineering |
| Recipient: |
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| Initial Amendment Date: | May 18, 2012 |
| Latest Amendment Date: | May 18, 2012 |
| Award Number: | 1210024 |
| Award Instrument: | Fellowship Award |
| Program Manager: |
Anne Emig
OISE Office of International Science and Engineering O/D Office Of The Director |
| Start Date: | June 1, 2012 |
| End Date: | May 31, 2013 (Estimated) |
| Total Intended Award Amount: | $6,126.00 |
| Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $6,126.00 |
| Funds Obligated to Date: |
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| History of Investigator: |
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| Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
Tucson AZ US 85721-0012 |
| Sponsor Congressional District: |
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| Primary Place of Performance: |
Tucson AZ US 85721-0012 |
| Primary Place of
Performance Congressional District: |
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| Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): |
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| Parent UEI: |
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| NSF Program(s): | EAPSI |
| Primary Program Source: |
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| Program Reference Code(s): |
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| Program Element Code(s): |
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| Award Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Fund Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Assistance Listing Number(s): | 47.079 |
ABSTRACT
This action funds Stephen Budy of the University of Arizona to conduct a research project, entitled "Structure and Mechanical Properties of Fluorinated and Non-fluorinated High Performance Polymers," during the summer of 2012 at the University of Auckland in Auckland, New Zealand. The host scientist is Prof. Jianyong Jin.
The Intellectual Merit of the research project is the investigation of the structure and mechanical properties of fluorinated and non-fluorinated polyphenylene using meta- and para-isomer monomers in order to tailor the mechanical properties (rigid-rod versus random coil, modulus, strength, toughness, and strain). The comparison of these polyphenylene materials allows, for the first time, structural and mechanical characterization which can be compared to other known polymers, e.g., Kevler® and Nomex®, and various biopolymers, including muscle fiber, spider silk, deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), and collagen.
Polyphenylenes, the parent polymers to those under study, are used as high temperature lubricants, hydraulic fluids, heat-transfer agents, and coolants for nuclear reactors. The fluorine-containing polymers have been used in the personal care, automotive, aerospace, energy, biomedical, telecommunication, and military market. This research promises new tailorable architectures and new configurations of the meta-to-para ratio conformation to allow for more sophisticated processing. Potential new uses include asymmetric membranes for gas separations, tailored protective coatings, proton exchange membranes (PEM) for fuel cell applications, n-type semiconductors for organic light emitting diodes (LED), and field effect transistors (FET).
Broader Impacts of an EAPSI fellowship include providing the Fellow a first-hand research experience outside the U.S.; an introduction to the science, science policy, and scientific infrastructure of the respective location; and an orientation to the society, culture and language. These activities meet the NSF goal to educate for international collaborations early in the career of its scientists, engineers, and educators, thus ensuring a globally aware U.S. scientific workforce.
PUBLICATIONS PRODUCED AS A RESULT OF THIS RESEARCH
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PROJECT OUTCOMES REPORT
Disclaimer
This Project Outcomes Report for the General Public is displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this Report are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.
A fundamental understanding of structure-property relationships for polymers is crucial to improve the cost, performance, and durability of high performance, thermally stable materials and applications. The structure-property relationships will enable process engineers to select polymers for specific end use and will allow polymer chemists to design new materials with overall better properties. The interactions among polymers play an integral role in processing and ultimately in the final properties of the polymer material. Amorphous versus polycrystalline polymers follows as yet another important aspect to recognize and control, if possible. Fluorine-containing polymers are yet another class of materials with great properties; however, fluorine-containing materials have not been explored for a wide array of polymer architectures.
Diels–Alder polyphenylene and fluorine-containing polyphenylene was investigated to determine the optimum conformation in the polymer backbone. The thermal and mechanical properties of polyphenylene were measured using dynamic thermal mechanical analysis (DTMA). These materials were compared to para-aramid polymers (Kevler®) and meta-aramid polymers (Nomex®); both have different mechanical properties (E = 3.5 GPa and 0.35 GPa, respectively) due solely to their different configuration in the polymer backbone. These materials were also compared to biopolymer materials as bio-mimetic examples; muscle fiber, spider silk, deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), and collagen have mechanical properties (E = 0.1 GPa, 1.5 GPa, 1–2 GPa, and 5–11 GPa, respectively) rivaling the mechanical properties of many commodity polymers.
The polymer conformation was studied by making small molecule analogies. Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy allows for elucidation of the protons and carbons, but is difficult to separate mixtures of compounds which are observed from the Diels–Alder reaction. X-ray crystallography ultimately defines what the molecular structures are and the packing and interactions which are present. However, mixtures of compounds are still a problem. The polymer conformation is much more difficult to elucidate because it is a long chain of repeating molecules and presumably a mixture as well. The conformation was tested in the polymer by treating the polymerization method the same but using a para and meta monomer. The para polymer resulted in a polymer with a degradation temperature (Td) equal to 550 °C and mechanical properties (E = 3–5 GPa and glass transition temperature (Tg) equal to 400 °C) similar to Kevlar®. The meta polymer resulted in a polymer with a similar degradation temperature (550 °C), but the mechanical properties could not be determined because the material was too crystalline to form films. Therefore, the packing structure is completely different and was successfully controlled.
Last Modified: 09/28/2012
Modified by: Stephen M Budy
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