This National Science Foundation project grant of $350,000 will fund research at North Carolina State University from November 2022 to October 2025 under the Engineering program (CFDA 47.041). The university will investigate the impact of heterogeneity and scale on the nonlinear viscoelastic behavior of polymer glasses and their nanocomposites. Researchers will use mechanical spectral hole burning and large amplitude oscillatory shear techniques to characterize these materials at different...
The University of Wisconsin - Madison, operating as Research and Sponsored Programs under the University of Wisconsin System, was awarded a $510,959 Project Grant by the National Science Foundation (NSF) Engineering program (CFDA 47.041) to develop computational methods to design nanoparticles for use with a variety of cell types. The project aims to combine all-atom molecular dynamics simulations, topological data analysis, and machine learning to predict the binding of proteins to...
The National Science Foundation awarded a $539,434 Project Grant to the University of Wisconsin System under the Engineering program (CFDA 47.041). The grant funds research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison on diffusion-driven degradation and failure mechanisms in architected composites from July 1, 2021 through June 30, 2026. The Engineering program seeks to improve quality of life and economic strength by fostering innovation and excellence in engineering research. This particular award...
This $103,242 National Science Foundation project grant supports research into the self-healing mechanics of nanocomposite hydrogels at the University of Wisconsin-Madison from October 1, 2022 to September 30, 2023. The grant was awarded by the National Science Foundation Division of Civil, Mechanical, and Manufacturing Innovation under the Engineering program (CFDA 47.041). The project will integrate molecular dynamics simulations, analytical theories, and experimental validation to...
This $300,001 Project Grant from the National Science Foundation's Division of Materials Research will fund collaborative research between Princeton University and other institutions to understand polymer adsorption mechanisms and optimize nanocomposite material properties. Over three years, the researchers will employ fluorescence experiments and molecular dynamics simulations to probe how irreversibly adsorbed polymer layers form at interfaces in films and nanocomposites. They aim to establish...
This National Science Foundation (NSF) Engineering program (CFDA 47.041) Project Grant award of $342,318 supports research at the University of Wisconsin - Madison to develop a novel theoretical and computational framework for modeling the mechanical deformation and interactions of biomembranes with transport and electrochemical processes. The 3-year research project, starting on Sep 1, 2024, aims to create an open-source computational tool to model key biomembrane phenomena like endocytosis,...
This National Science Foundation Project Grant of $436,084 supports research at Carnegie Mellon University from May 2022 through April 2025 under the Mathematical and Physical Sciences program (CFDA 47.049). The award will fund the development of novel methods to control interactions between polymer and nanomaterial constituents in polymer nanocomposites. Specifically, the grantee will synthesize brush particle model systems and characterize the structure evolution of liquid-crystal phase...
This Project Grant award from the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Engineering program (CFDA 47.041) supports research to improve the modeling and prediction of long-term performance for polymer glasses, a class of non-equilibrium materials with applications in electronics, aerospace composites, and other areas. The $372,323 award, effective April 1, 2024 through March 31, 2027, is funding collaborative work between researchers at North Carolina State University (NC State) and the...
This $381,000 three-year Project Grant from the National Science Foundation's Mathematical and Physical Sciences program (CFDA 47.049) supports research at Northwestern University to develop an accurate hierarchical modeling approach for understanding the structural and mechanical properties of polymer grafted nanoparticle materials. The research will employ molecular simulations, theory, and machine learning to explain how variability in nanoparticle and polymer graft size, known as dispersity,...
This National Science Foundation (NSF) Project Grant, funded under the Mathematical and Physical Sciences program (CFDA 47.049), aims to develop polymers with unprecedented mechanical properties and processibility for use in advanced applications like wearable sensors, soft actuators, and energy harvesting devices. The University of Texas at Dallas (UTD) is leading this collaborative $350,229 research effort, which uses a systematic, data-driven approach to create adaptive polymer networks...
The National Science Foundation awarded a $337,108 Project Grant to the University of Wisconsin-Madison under the Engineering program (CFDA 47.041) to conduct research integrating molecular modeling and nanomechanical experiments. The award aims to test the hypothesis that a combination of high strength and low stiffness in polymer nanocomposites results from their unique microstructure containing spherical nanoparticles weakly interacting with a soft polymer matrix. The research will establish a multiscale modeling and experimentation framework to elucidate how nanoparticle size influences mechanical behaviors compared to free volume in the polymer. Findings will generalize the mechanical principles enabling high strength and low stiffness to guide exploration of novel nanocomposites with ultra-high elastic energy storage for applications like mechanical protection, artificial muscles, soft robotics, and flexible electronics.