CAREER: Harnessing the Interplay of Morphology, Viscoelasticity, and Surface-Active Agents to Modulate Soft Wetting

职业：利用形态、粘弹性和表面活性剂的相互作用来调节软润湿

• 批准号: 2336504
• 负责人: Wei Wang
• 金额: $ 50.54万
• 依托单位: University of Tennessee Knoxville
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2024
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2024-02-15 至 2029-01-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2336504&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: CAREER; Harnessing; Interplay; Morphology; Viscoelasticity

Understanding the wetting behavior of liquids on soft surfaces is of significant scientific importance toward the design of functional surfaces with enhanced adaptability and sustainability for environmental and healthcare applications. The goal of this award is to investigate how micro-texture and softness of polymeric substrates synergistically affect wetting behavior of various liquids, including both simple liquids and liquids containing surfactants. A series of studies will be performed using textured surfaces and porous substrates with different micro-textures and different softness to uncover key factors governing the interactions between liquids and soft textured surfaces. A host of educational activities are integrated with the proposed project to provide interdisciplinary learning experiences to pre-college, undergraduate, and graduate students. The proposed science kit-based public engagement activity, which involves development of the “Magic of Soft Surfaces” science kit, will engage K-12 students in fun science experiments, and provide training opportunities to the science teachers.In contrast to the well-established knowledge of wetting on rigid surfaces, the fundamental mechanisms regulating soft wetting are much less explored. There is a lack of understanding of how the interplay between morphology, viscoelasticity, and surface-active agents regulates soft wetting. The overarching goal of this award is to advance the fundamental understanding of soft wetting phenomena by closing these knowledge gaps. This goal will be achieved by performing interdisciplinary research to: (1) define the structure-property-performance relationships characterizing wetting behaviors of soft textured surfaces, (2) unveil the governing mechanisms of liquid imbibition, droplet absorption, and wetting resistance in soft porous substrates, and (3) probe how surface-active agents alter wetting ridge and soft wetting behavior. The findings of this project will result in original and transformative knowledge, which has the potential to pave the way for discovering novel functionalities of soft materials. An integrated education plan that involves various activities is woven into the proposed research through (1) undergraduate and graduate education and research, (2) pre-college education, and (3) broader community education and outreach.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.

了解液体在柔软表面上的润湿行为对于增强环境和医疗保健应用的适应性和可持续性的功能表面设计具有重要的科学意义。该奖项的目标是研究聚合物基材的微观纹理和柔软度如何协同作用。影响各种液体的润湿行为，包括简单液体和含有表面活性剂的液体，将使用具有不同微观纹理和不同柔软度的纹理表面和多孔基材进行一系列研究，以揭示控制之间相互作用的关键因素。拟议的项目整合了一系列教育活动，为大学预科生、本科生和研究生提供跨学科的学习体验，其中包括开发“魔法”。 “软表面”科学套件，将使 K-12 学生参与有趣的科学实验，并为科学教师提供培训机会。与刚性表面润湿的成熟知识相比，调节软润湿的基本机制要少得多探索中还存在不足。了解形态、粘弹性和表面活性剂之间的相互作用如何调节软润湿该奖项的首要目标是通过缩小这些知识差距来促进对软润湿现象的基本理解这一目标将通过跨学科来实现。研究目的：(1) 定义表征软质纹理表面润湿行为的结构-性能-性能关系，(2) 揭示软质多孔中液体吸入、液滴吸收和润湿阻力的控制机制（3）探索表面活性剂如何改变润湿脊和软润湿行为，该项目的研究结果将产生原创性和变革性的知识，这有可能为发现软材料的新功能铺平道路。涉及各种活动的综合教育计划通过（1）本科生和研究生教育和研究，（2）大学前教育，以及（3）更广泛的社区教育和推广融入拟议的研究中。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并具有被认为值得通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估来提供支持。