Daniel M. Knauss - US grants

A highly innovative polymer laboratory class is created to accompany an increasingly popular interdisciplinary polymer science lecture class. Carefully considered and selected state-of-the-art instrumentation is acquired and used in conjunction with "just in time" learning under the premise of the student's being faced with realistic industrial situations whereby specific technical questions have to be addressed within a limited period of time. Five separate experiments emphasizing and reinforcing the material presented in lecture are performed. The laboratory class is team taught by one faculty member from Chemical Engineering and one from the Chemistry Department; heavy contact hours between the student and these faculty in an intimate laboratory setting are an indispensable part of the course. *

This award from the Chemistry Research Instrumentation and Facilities (CRIF) Program and the Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) Program will assist the Department of Chemistry at Colorado School of Mines acquire a Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption Ionization/Time of Flight (MALDI/TOF) Mass Spectrometer. This equipment will enhance research in a number of areas, including (a) coupling field-flow fractionation w/MALDI for analysis of bacteria & synthetic polymers; (b) fragmentation and ionization modes in the MALDI of bacterial proteins; (c) molecular weight and chemical species determination in unique polymer systems; and (d) characterization of microbial communities by MALDI of amplified & digested 16S rDNA.

Mass spectrometry (MS) is a technique used to probe intimate structural details and to obtain the molecular compositions of a vast array of organic, bioorganic, and organometallic molecules.

9985221
Knauss

This award will support research on the continued development of a technique for the formation of dendritically branched polymers and the characterization of the resulting products. The technique combines living polymerization methods with a convergent synthesis approach and can be designed to produce dendritic polystyrenes, polydienes, poly(alkyl methacrylate)s, and others with relatively narrow molecular weight distributions. The synthesis is done by first initiating and polymerizing a low molecular weight chain through living methods; the living end is then reacted with a compound having both a polymerizable group and a moiety capable of quantitatively coupling with the growing chain end. The slow addition of this reactant either alone or with a comonomomer results in a convergence of chains and ultimately in a dendritic polymer with a living chain end at the core. This chain end can then be functionalized with a variety of groups or can be used to initiate an added comonomer. The synthetic method allows for a large number of architectural variations resulting in many different dendritically branched polymers. Main aspects to be studied include the progression of the reaction, the synthesis of different dendritic polymer backbones, the molecular weight between branch points, the morphology of architectural copolymer, and the solution, rheological, and other physical properties of these materials and their blends with linear polymers. Characterization of these novel materials will improve the understanding of the relationship between branching structure and physical properties and direct comparison with the linear version of the polymer can be accomplished. Because this method can be used to readily produce considerable quantities of accomplished. Because this method can be used to readily produce considerable quantities of material, the utility of such dendrititc polymers can be determined. The educational aspects of the project will result in an improved polymer science curriculum, with laboratory experience and the availability of new classes in the polymer area and more research experience for undergraduates. Undergraduate seniors in the chemistry department will be required to do research in the coming academic year and students will work on meaningful research projects. This award will in part support the undergraduate research program. Outreach to K-12 and to professionals working in the field of polymers will be accomplished by incorporation of polymer demonstrations into the current K-12 outreach program and through the development of continuing education classes in polymers.

The research is expected to improve the understanding of the relationship between branching structure and physical properties for polymers such that new materials can be designed and produced. This will impact society in a positive manner by improving current materials and producing new ones that can be sued in current application and in applications that will be developed for the future. The students supported by this grant will be educated to be capable of continuing the development of new materials and new applications that will further benefit society and improve the standard of living.

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).

With this award from the Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) program, Daniel M. Knauss and colleagues Stephen G. Boyes, Steven F. Dec, Andrew M. Herring and Carolyn A. Koh from the Colorado School of Mines (CSM) will acquire a 500 MHz NMR spectrometer for use with liquids, a pulsed-field diffusion probe and a new console to upgrade a 400 MHz spectrometer for solids. The suite of instruments will support research targeted towards renewable/alternative energy and materials such as 1) hydrogen fuel cells, 2) synthesis and characterization of organic compounds and polymers, 3) studies of gas hydrates, 4) polymer modified nanostructures to use in electronic devices, 5) mechanistic pathways of chemical transport in membranes, and 6) preparation of plastics from bio-components. It is noted that the instrumentation will be available to faculty members in Chemistry and Chemical Engineering and that there will be collaborative research and educational projects with higher educational institutions and national laboratories in the Denver Metro Region, including the University of Colorado at Denver, Red Rocks Community College, Metropolitan State College of Denver, and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy is one of the most powerful tools available to chemists for the elucidation of the structure of molecules. It is used to identify unknown substances, to characterize specific arrangements of atoms within molecules, and to study the dynamics of interactions between molecules in solutions and in solids. Access to state-of-the-art NMR spectrometers is essential to chemists who are carrying out frontier research. The results from these NMR studies will have an impact in chemistry, materials research and renewable/alternative energy. These instruments will be an integral part of teaching as well as research.