News Release

Sukhishvili awarded NSF grant for Materials World Network project

Project brings together an international team of researcher-theoreticians from Moscow with a research group at Stevens

Grant and Award Announcement

Stevens Institute of Technology

HOBOKEN, N.J. — Svetlana Sukhishvili, Associate Professor in Stevens Institute of Technology’s Chemistry and Chemical Biology department, has been awarded a grant from the National Science Foundation. This NSF grant will support the project, “Materials World Network: US-Russia Collaboration on Responsive Micelles at Surfaces – A Combined Experimental and Theoretical Approach,” which Sukhishvili will direct.

This Materials World Network project is a combined theoretical and experimental study of novel polymer films which contain block copolymer micelles (BCMs) whose micellar structure will be designed to respond to external stimuli. The project brings together an international team of researcher-theoreticians from the Department of Physics of Moscow State University, Russia (MSU) with their expertise in polymer theory, and a research group at Stevens Institute of Technology (US) with their expertise in synthesis, self-assembly and characterization of thin polymer films at surfaces. The use of stimuli-responsive BCMs (whose cores can be used to carry cargo) in combination with layer-by-layer (LbL) self-assembly is a new approach which will be explored in this project. BCM-containing multilayers are able to carry and release large amounts of functional molecules in response to temperature or pH variations.

The Russian group will develop novel theoretical strategies based on weak and strong segregation approaches, a theory of reversible association-dissociation and Random Phase Approximation (RPA) method to elucidate the structure of BCM in BCM/polyelectrolyte multilayer (PEM) films. The US group will (1) synthesize novel pH- and temperature-responsive block copolymers which contain zwitterionic groups in the micellar corona, (2) study self-assembly of BCMs of these copolymers with a linear polyelectrolyte using LbL approach and (3) characterize micellar structure and morphology in self-assembled films before and after application of environmental stimuli.

“The research will yield guidelines for the construction of BCM/PEM films and, in a broader sense, will reveal major polymer structure-property relationships as applied to polymer self-assembly at surfaces. The development of BCM/PEM materials will meet a yet unmet need for environmentally triggerable polymer films which through changes in their structure can efficiently regulate the delivery of drugs, cosmetic compounds or fragrances,” said Sukhishvili.

A significant feature of the proposed collaboration is strong emphasis on education and exchange of faculty personnel and graduate students between the Russian and US labs. Visits of graduate students to MSU with the purpose of integrating theoretical and experimental knowledge of responsive BCM/PEM films in an international setting, exchange of teaching practices, enhancement of an international student exchange by participation of US students in an annual Student Conference on polymers and polymer films in Russia are planned. The US group will further disseminate the knowledge obtained during international exposure to undergraduate and high school students.

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About Stevens Institute of Technology

Founded in 1870, Stevens Institute of Technology is one of the leading technological universities in the world dedicated to learning and research. Through its broad-based curricula, nurturing of creative inventiveness, and cross disciplinary research, the Institute is at the forefront of global challenges in engineering, science, and technology management. Partnerships and collaboration between, and among, business, industry, government and other universities contribute to the enriched environment of the Institute. A new model for technology commercialization in academe, known as Technogenesis®, involves external partners in launching business enterprises to create broad opportunities and shared value. Stevens offers baccalaureates, master’s and doctoral degrees in engineering, science, computer science and management, in addition to a baccalaureate degree in the humanities and liberal arts, and in business and technology. The university has a total enrollment of 1,850 undergraduate and 2,980 graduate students, and a worldwide online enrollment of 2,250, with a full-time faculty of 140. Stevens’ graduate programs have attracted international participation from China, India, Southeast Asia, Europe and Latin America. Additional information may be obtained from its web page at www.stevens.edu. For the latest news about Stevens, please visit www.StevensNewsService.com.


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