Soft Materials Research Center

软材料研究中心

• 批准号: 0820579
• 负责人: Noel Clark
• 金额: $ 560万
• 依托单位: University of Colorado at Boulder
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Cooperative Agreement
• 财政年份: 2008
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2008-09-01 至 2015-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0820579&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Soft; Materials; Research; Center

The Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC) at the University of Colorado at Boulder supports innovative research and education in liquid crystals, ranging from cutting-edge, basic liquid crystal and soft materials science to the development of enhanced capabilities for photonic, chemical, and biotech applications of liquid crystals. A multi-disciplinary team of physicists, chemists, biochemists, molecular biologists, chemical engineers and materials scientists work collaboratively on research and education projects. The Center offers a broad program of activities directed towards education and enhancement of science literacy. These include summer Research Experiences for Undergraduates and Research Experiences for Teachers. Its K-12 outreach program, Materials Science from Colorado University, brings Center personnel into classrooms and uses the understanding of materials to teach physical science concepts. Outreach activities to the public include the Liquid Crystal Wizards family science show. The MRSEC will participate in a University-wide program (Red Shirt Program) designed to offer a pre-freshman year of preparatory STEM instruction, communication skills development, and clustered housing to help prepare underserved high school students for success as science and engineering undergraduates. The Center pursues collaborative research with a variety of companies and international collaborators and offers its excellent experimental and computational shared facilities for outside users. Research at the MRSEC is organized as a single Interdisciplinary Research Group, Liquid Crystal Frontiers, with three research thrusts. The Liquid Crystal Macro/Nano/Molecular thrust focuses on the science and technology of bulk and composite liquid crystal systems, pursuing the design and synthesis of new materials, and the discovery and exploration of novel themes of self assembly and ordering. The Active Liquid Crystal Interfaces thrust pursues the science and applications of soft interface structures, emphasizing those that respond to external stimuli, such as light, fields, or chemical composition, and in doing so affect the surrounding bulk media. The Functional Liquid Crystal Assemblies thrust advances the science and technology of hierarchically-structured soft condensed phases, emphasizing nanophase segregation as a path to novel functional materials.

科罗拉多大学博尔德分校的材料研究科学与工程中心 (MRSEC) 支持液晶的创新研究和教育，范围从尖端的基础液晶和软材料科学到光子、化学、以及液晶的生物技术应用。由物理学家、化学家、生物化学家、分子生物学家、化学工程师和材料科学家组成的多学科团队在研究和教育项目上进行协作。该中心提供广泛的活动计划，旨在教育和提高科学素养。其中包括本科生暑期研究经历和教师研究经历。它的 K-12 外展项目——科罗拉多大学的材料科学，将中心人员带入课堂，并利用对材料的理解来教授物理科学概念。面向公众的推广活动包括液晶奇才家庭科学表演。 MRSEC 将参与一项全校范围的计划（红衫计划），该计划旨在提供大一前的 STEM 预备教学、沟通技能发展和集中住宿，以帮助服务不足的高中生为科学和工程本科生的成功做好准备。该中心致力于与各种公司和国际合作者进行合作研究，并为外部用户提供优秀的实验和计算共享设施。 MRSEC 的研究由一个跨学科研究小组“液晶前沿”组成，具有三个研究重点。液晶宏观/纳米/分子主攻方向专注于块状和复合液晶系统的科学技术，追求新材料的设计和合成，以及自组装和有序的新主题的发现和探索。主动液晶界面致力于追求软界面结构的科学和应用，强调那些对外部刺激（例如光、场或化学成分）做出反应的界面结构，并在此过程中影响周围的体介质。功能液晶组件推动了分层结构软凝聚相的科学和技术的发展，强调纳米相偏析是新型功能材料的途径。