| NSF Org: |
CHE Division Of Chemistry |
| Recipient: |
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| Initial Amendment Date: | July 5, 2016 |
| Latest Amendment Date: | July 5, 2018 |
| Award Number: | 1610311 |
| Award Instrument: | Continuing Grant |
| Program Manager: |
Suk-Wah Tam-Chang
stamchan@nsf.gov (703)292-8684 CHE Division Of Chemistry MPS Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences |
| Start Date: | August 15, 2016 |
| End Date: | July 31, 2022 (Estimated) |
| Total Intended Award Amount: | $700,000.00 |
| Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $719,305.00 |
| Funds Obligated to Date: |
FY 2017 = $350,000.00 FY 2018 = $19,305.00 |
| History of Investigator: |
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| Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
400 HARVEY MITCHELL PKY S STE 300 COLLEGE STATION TX US 77845-4375 (979)862-6777 |
| Sponsor Congressional District: |
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| Primary Place of Performance: |
3255 TAMU, Dept of Chemistry College Station TX US 77845-4375 |
| 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): | Macromolec/Supramolec/Nano |
| Primary Program Source: |
01001718DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT 01001819DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT |
| 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): | 47.049 |
ABSTRACT
Organic polymer materials, commonly thought of as plastics, are of critical importance to every aspect of human life, from the clothes that we wear to the computers that we use to the tires on which we drive to the devices through which medicines are administered. Two key challenges with polymer materials are their production from petrochemical sources, which are non-renewable, and their persistence in the environment. To address these challenges, Professors Wooley, Darensbourg, and Dr. Sun of Texas A&M University are designing strategies to produce polymer materials from natural building blocks while also incorporating degradable linkages that regenerate those natural building blocks once the material has completed its useful lifetime. This project includes research and educational components to impact fundamental knowledge about polymer materials across the disciplines of chemistry and engineering.
The research team is developing synthetic chemistry approaches to the production of a series of polycarbonates and polyphosphoesters that originate from renewable resources, exhibit novel chemical, physical and mechanical properties, and undergo hydrolytic breakdown to biologically-beneficial or benign by-products. In one direction, this project combines polyhydroxyl natural products as the monomeric building blocks and carbonates as the linkages. Hydrolytic degradation of the resulting polymers produces the polyhydroxyl compound plus carbon dioxide. In a second direction, phosphoester linkages are utilized, again borrowing from Nature, in phosphoesters commonly found in biological macromolecules, such as DNA or RNA. The research activities include 1) the synthesis of functional monomers from polyhydroxyl natural products, 2) the transformation of those monomers into linear, branched or crosslinked polymer materials by either step-growth condensation or chain-growth ring-opening polymerizations, 3) rigorous characterization studies to determine the compositions, structures, physicochemical and mechanical properties; and 4) the study of hydrolytic stabilities and degradation products.
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.
Organic polymer materials, commonly thought of as plastics, are of critical importance to every aspect of human life, from the clothes that we wear to the computers that we use to the tires on which we drive to the devices through which medicines are administered. A key goal of this research was the establishment of synthetic methodologies by which to transform natural products into functional polymer materials. It was anticipated that such accomplishments would led a revolution in plastics, which would be based upon an increased awareness of the need to consider the full life cycle of a polymer material (plastic), from the stage of the initial design through to its functional performance and, finally, to its breakdown into biologically- and environmentally-resorbable by-products. Although Nature has several examples of engineering-type construction materials (e.g. cellulose, chitin, etc.) that are degradable, resorbable and recyclable, most synthetic materials are designed to be derived from renewable resources and degradable or from petrochemicals and perform as an engineering material. In one direction, this project combined polyhydroxyl natural products as the monomeric building blocks, and carbonates, found in common engineering materials, as the linkages. Hydrolytic degradation produced the polyhydroxyl compound plus carbon dioxide. In a second direction, phosphoester linkages were utilized, again borrowing from Nature, in the use of phosphoesters commonly found in biological macromolecules, such as DNA or RNA. The physical, mechanical and stability properties were tuned by the chemical compositions and structures, controlled by the advancement of synthetic methodologies by which to prepare such materials. Therefore, the focus of the research involved the development of chemistry techniques that would harness the rich chemical diversity of natural resources. An emphasis was placed on the incorporation of sugars and other natural products into plastics, so that they would be capable of useful performance but, ultimately, could avoid long-term burden as waste in the environment. This project produced advances that were disseminated in 27 peer-reviewed publications. Specific objectives also included providing a rigorous educational environment and research training experience for the 1 postdoctoral research associate (female), 12 Ph.D. students (6 female), 1 M.D./Ph.D. student, and 4 undergraduates (3 female) who were involved in this project.
Last Modified: 01/11/2023
Modified by: Karen L Wooley
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