Informatics-Driven Design of Resilient and Deploymerizable Polymers
Abstract
High thermomechanical stability under a variety of conditions is desirable for manypolymer applications, but this durability comes at the cost of insolubility, infusibility and nonrecyclability. In this program, we aim to overcome the fundamental disconnect between polymer stability and facile reuse, reprocessing, degradation and recycling, through control ofdepolymerization chemistries. The challenge we need to overcome is to create not only polymerswith perfect control over the monomeric sequence and supramolecular assembly behavior, but also materials with predetermined mechanical and degradation (or depolymerization) properties.From a DOD perspective, several applications will be impacted favorably. Recyclablecoating materials is one domain where there will be immediate benefit. Damaged regions can bestripped off of the coating and re-coated with the same material if such materials are amenable to additive manufacturing (AM) processes, entire (damaged)parts may be depolymerized and reprinted, on-demand.While a few innovative prototypical designs of recyclable/reprocessable/depolymerizablepolymers have been reported (as described below), an integrated body of knowledge and rationalstrategies to systematically explore new chemical spaces is not available presently. The currentstate-of-the-art also does not provide insights on the limits of achievable performance of polymerchemistry subclasses, nor do we know in general what chemistries and morphologies will lead toattractive solutions for durability and degradability. The multiple knobs that one may usesimultaneously to turn on/off the depolymerization processsuch as photo, thermal,solvent/chemical, etc., triggersare also largely unexplored. Given the practically infinitepolymer chemical space, it is extremely likely that a number of novel resilient and depolymerizable polymers are awaiting discovery. Finding them will require a knowledgebase on factors that govern this type of multi-objective performance.Here, we seek to understand and identify fundamental mechanisms that control chemicaland photo-thermo-mechanical (in)stability of polymers, and to utilize this understanding to achieve the twin goals of resilience and recyclability/reprocessability. New chemistries to create polymers that are depolymerizable at low temperatures (also referred to as ceiling temperatures, Tc) will be developed. These polymers will be stabilized via end-capping units that are responsive to a combination of external depolymerization triggers. Integration of monomer/polymer synthesis strategies with AM processes will be an important component of this proposal. The synthetic chemistry effort will inform and be informed by computational and informatics efforts. Data from depolymerization experiments will continuously feed into machine learning engines that will make recommendations for the next experiments (e.g., via active learning and inverse design schemes). Thus, as exploration/exploitation cycles of synthesis, property testing and machine learning are established, later phases will aim to expand the dimensions of the chemical space, establish protocols for depolymerization and recovery, and introduce and reveal entirely new chemistries. This integrated effort is expected to allow materials ires a breadth of expertise and innovation that canonly be supplied by a diverse and cooperative team. An integrated multi-disciplinary team with all the necessary complementary skills has been assembled that combines researchers with expertise in innovative polytmann, Qi), and designing materials using computations and machine learning approaches (Ramprasad, Song).
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Jun 17, 2020
- Source ID
- N000142012586
Entities
People
- Ramamurthy Ramprasad
Organizations
- Georgia Tech Research Corporation
- Office of Naval Research
- United States Navy