# Presentation: 192518

## Grand Challenge Chapt. 3. Can We Control the Essential Architecture of Nature?  Can We Build “Designer” Materials?

***A Grand Challenge is Something Scientifically Very Important ***
***that We Dearly Yearn to Do, but Don’t Know How***

** ****Hard Materials Synthesis        Soft Materials Synthesis**

**Tobin Marks**
**BESAC Meeting**
**Rockville MD**
**July 31, 2007**

## Grand Challenge Chapter 3.  

_**Soft Materials**_
**Exquisite synthetic control of atom-atom connectivity**
**Processability (stamping, spinning, molding, etc.)**
**Direct connection to living systems and their properties**
***But Isn’t Soft Matter Fragile, Non-Robust?***
**Thermally, mechanically robust**
**Diverse electrical, magnetic, optical properties**
**Traditional “Heat-and-beat” syntheses**
***Why Can’t We Achieve the Atom-by-Atom  Connectivity Control, Architectural Diversity of Soft Matter?***

_** **__**Hard Materials **_

**Strong Resonance with Other Chapters!**

## Statement of Grand Challenges

**Statement of Grand Challenges**

***Hard Materials******: rational, directed, soft matter-like materials synthesis for new types of hard matter exhibiting traditional soft matter characteristics, coupled with incisive characterization over broad ranges of size, energy, and time scales, and theory capable of accurately predicting properties and/or suggesting new synthetic directions.***

**Meaningfully Addressing These Grand Challenges Will Require New  **
**Modes of  Conducting Basic Energy Research**

## Example: Durable Soft MatterWe know isolated examples of exceedingly robust soft matter -- matter with extremely high thermal, chemical, mechanical, radiationstability.Phthalocyanine dyes Ultra-temperature resistant Nomex fibersExtremeophiles living in volcanoes and nuclear reactorsCarbon nanotubes. But don’t know the algorithm for truly durable soft matter!

***Nomex, a synthetic polyamide with a structure similar to amino acids displays remarkable mechanical flexibility and strength along with flame resistance.***

## Soft Matter Challenge Specifics.  Durability Goal: Learn from Nature, then go beyond

**How do we achieve soft matter which is exceptionally durable with regard to:**
**Thermal degradation**
**Oxidative degradation**
**Radiation damage (photon, charged particles, neutron)**
**Self-healing or self-protecting structures**
**Recyclability via disassembly/reassembly or via selective biodegradation to other useful products**

***Self-healing polymer composite that releases a catalyst and polymerizable monomer to repair cracking.  The image shows the polydicyclo-pentadiene (polyDCPD) repair polymer forming in the crack***

## Soft Matter Challenge Specifics. Architecture

**     ****How do we synthesize soft materials organized or even self-organized in multiple dimensions over multiple length scales in:**
**Connectivity of ********- and π-bonds**
**Cavities/protrusions of predetermined shapes, chiralities, functionalities, and recognition (especially biorecognition) characteristics**
**Surfaces of predetermined shapes, chiralities, functionalities, and recognition (especially biorecognition) characteristics**
**Controlled spatial organization of electron donor and acceptor groups, paired and unpaired electron spins**
**Capturing essential structural and dynamic features of transition states for catalysis**
**Surfaces which reorganize in response to environment to tune compatibility or incompatibility**

## Soft Matter Challenge Specifics  

**Homogeneous Catalysis**

**How do we create soft matter metal-ligand arrays capable of:**
**Selectively transforming saturated hydrocarbons into alcohols, olefins, and other building blocks under mild conditions**
**Selectively creating conjugated carbon-rich structures such as C****n**** polyhedra, nanotubes, graphenes, diamonds at low temperatures **
**Achieving >99% enantiomeric excess in any catalytic reaction with any substrate Catalyst structures self-adjust to optimize catalysis**
**Efficiently reducing atmospheric N****2**** to NH****3 ****or organonitrogen compounds**

***Platinum complex based homogeneous catalytic cycle for the selective conversion of methane to methanol.***

## Soft Matter Challenge Specifics.  

**Creating polymer chains with precisely tailored comonomer or branch incorporation points for unique mechanical and processing properties**
**Creating copolymers combining biotic + abiotic monomers**
**Dissolving/processing/functionalizing intractable substances such as minerals, radioactive wastes or wood using reagents tailored to the surface of interest**
**Using solar radiation to achieve selective, efficient splitting of H****2****O, CO, CO****2****, or CH****4****  **

**Soft Matter Challenge Specifics.  **
**Homogeneous Catalysis**

**How do we create soft matter metal-ligand arrays capable of:**

***Active site of a heme monooxidase enzyme that Nature uses to oxidize small molecules such as methane with O******2******. Here the catalytic properties of the central iron atom are tuned by the surrounding planar porphyrin ligand.***

## Soft Matter Challenge Specifics

**High carrier mobility selective for holes or electrons, with controllable carrier densities**
**Tailorable band gaps, optical cross-sections, photoluminescence efficiencies, and intersystem crossing rates**
**Long-lived excitonic states with tunable emissive characteristics**
**Structures that enhance exciton mobility or splitting into holes and electrons**
**Tunable refractive index, dielectric constant, polarizability**

**Soft Matter Challenge Specifics**
**  ****Electronic Properties**

***An OLED (organic light-emitting diode) utilizes flexible organic materials for hole and electron transport and recombination to achieve efficient light emission.  Applications include displays and solid state lighting.***** **

## Soft Matter Challenge Specifics

**Ultra-high modulus yet  processable into films, fibers, shaped objects**
**Mechanical properties  tunable with a stimulus (thermal, magnetic, radiation, chemical) such as stiff ⇄ ductile, brittle ⇄ flexible**
**Exceptional impact resistance yet processable**
**Crosslinking reversible with external stimulus **
**Chain entanglement or density reversible with external stimulus**

**Soft Matter Challenge Specifics**
**  ****Mechanical Properties**
**Goal: Learn from Nature, go beyond**

## Challenge: Tailor-Make Hard Materials with the Finesse of Soft Materials Synthesis

**Hard matter encompasses majority of elements of the**
**	****Periodic Table **
**Only a small fraction of all possible compounds have **
**	****been synthesized**
**Rather than “heat and beat” approaches, can we apply atomic ****	****level strategies of soft matter synthesis?**
***                      ***

***    ******Jean Rouxel “Chemie Douce”***

**Reactive fluxes, multilayers**
**Nanoparticles**
**Small molecule precursors**
**Templating, biotemplating**
**Intercalation/exfoliation**
**High pressure**
**Liquid, gas phase epitaxy**

_**Need:**_
**Expeditious Characterization**
**New Physical Techniques**
**Theoretical Input**

## Hard Matter Challenge Specifics.  Goals: Liberation from Thermodynamic ControlControl of Atom-Atom Connectivity

**Hard Matter Challenge Specifics.****  ****Goals: Liberation from Thermodynamic Control****Control of Atom-Atom Connectivity**

**Organic Natural Products Synthesis.  Highly Selective, Highly Labor-Intensive **
**Preparation of “Linear Nanostructures”**

**Today organic chemists have the ability to prepare almost any target molecule!**

## Hard Materials Challenge Specifics.  Heterogeneous CatalysisGoal: Taming Hard Matter Surface Reactivity

**Kinetic Control, Raw Reactivity                     Selectivity **
**Distinguish Players from Spectators**
**Real-Time Images of Processes with Atom-Scale Precision, Femtosec Time ****	****Resolution**
**Selective Conversion of “Impossible” Feedstocks**
**“****Single-Site” Heterogeneous Catalysts**
**Hybrid Enzyme- Abiotic Catalysts**

***Crucial role of the nanoscale copper-zinc ***
***oxideinterface in a catalytic process for ***
***converting CO + H******2****** into methanol with***
***extremely high selectivity.***

## Hard Matter Challenge Specifics.  

**Nanoscience****Challenge: Selectivity in Nanocrystal Synthesis**

***Monodispersity****.* **Can we achieve a “mole” of nanocrystals, as for molecules? How many atoms constitute a “surface”? What tools are necessary to characterize these surfaces? **
***Alloy, line phase, and multi-functional nanocrystals.*** **At nm length scales atoms tend to phase-segregate, and intended nanostructures are strained. Can “perfect” alloys or discrete compounds be achieved in nanocrystals? **
***Perfecting nanocrystals for assembly****. ***Understanding/controlling forces for assembly of 1-100 nm size** **structures. Can we control driving forces for assembly? Use external stimulus?**

## Hard Matter Challenge Specifics. 

**Harnessing Synthetic Power of Biology**

** **

**Nature is expert is assembling certain hard matter structures.  **
**How far can we extend/enhance to tailor-make structures on **
**	****precise length scales?**
**What are the design rules?**

**Sponge Skeleton**

**Our ability to control the size of pure single crystals of Si, GaAs, diamond, zeolites, etc. is limited. Can biological apparatus be reprogrammed to grow very large crystals of predetermined shapes? **

## Soft Matter Challenge Specifics.  

**High (tunable) optical transparency, electrical conductivity, mechanical flexibility (TCOs). ****What are the limits?**
**High temperature superconductivity, perhaps with optical transparency. ****What are the limits?**
**Ferroelectricity and ferromagnetism coexisting at room temperature (e.g., multiferroics).  ****What are the limits?**

**Soft Matter Challenge Specifics.  **
**Materials with Contra-Indicated Properties**

**What are  design rules and techniques to prepare materials combining:**

**Magnetic levitation using**
**low temperature superconductors**

**High-efficiency solar cell using transparent**
**conducting oxide (TCO) electrode**

## Hard Matter Challenge Specifics.  

**Materials Discovery by Combinatorial**
**Computation**

**Is it possible to propose a desired band structure and:**
**Search for combination of atoms + crystal structures that**
**	****yields this band structure?**
**Compute thermodynamics of target phase?**
**Compute thermodynamically most plausible synthetic route? **

**?**

**A. Zunger,  J. Norskov**

## How to Address Grand Challenges in Materials Design and Synthesis

**Synthesis-Driven Research**
**Labor-intensive**
**Equipment, expendables-intensive**
**Most productive when strongly coupled to world-class characterization and theory **
**Research Mode Required**
**Sustained focused funding at meaningful levels**
**Team environment leveraging multiple capabilities**
**Interface soft and hard matter scientists**
**Leverage strengths of multiple universities, national labs, countries**
**Fellowships, exchange of personnel, real and virtual meetings, workshops, tutorials**