Partnership for Research and Education in Soft Matter Research & Technology and Quantum Confinement Materials Design (SMaRT QD)

This award is funded in whole or in part under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117-2). Non-Technical Summary

This Partnership for Research and Education in Materials(PREM) is a collaboration between two Historically Black College &Universities, Delaware State University (DSU) and Claflin University (CU), highlighting a strategic partnership with University of Delaware (UD) and a network of partners committed to strengthening STEM diversity, equity, and inclusivity through novel materials research and education. The PREM project brings together a diverse and talented scientific community with expertise in polymers, physics, inorganic chemistry, and computational-based techniques to develop a fundamental understanding of advanced quantum confined materials and soft matter interactions in complex environments.

Our collective efforts aim to build the infrastructure (facilities and human resources) at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) to solve grand challenges related to data-driven materials design in the areas of soft matter and quantum confined materials that would otherwise not be achievable without a center approach. SMaRT QD facilitates a Materials Genome Initiative (MGI) integrated, team-based model that links computation, data science, and experimentation crossing research boundaries between academia, national laboratories, and industry with the goals to: (1) enhance participants’ research capacity, scientific productivity, and training in the field of materials; (2) promote recruitment, retention, and degree attainment of minority students and other researchers in materials science; (3) increase the number of underrepresented minorities (URMs) knowledgeable in MGI related activities; and (4) create a world- class, next-generation materials science workforce.

Our combined efforts with the UD Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC) are focused on developing a multi-institutional operational framework that can be modeled broadly to build research capacity and expand their success to support diversity in STEM. Technical Summary

A synergistic interdisciplinary research approach to the advancement of the basic understanding of soft matter and quantum confinement materials will be conducted. In this project, an innovative, student- centered, inter-institutional program called "SMaRT QD PREM" will be created to manage the scholarly activities of the participating students. The PREM team will focus on the following key fundamental aspects of soft matter and quantum confinement materials research: (1) ‘bottom-up’ assembly of building blocks to design with specific composition, morphology, and structural properties to hierarchical systems and the control of such systems; thereby facilitating the manipulation of properties through structure- function; and (2) colloidally synthesized quantum dots, group IV and transition metal dichalcogenide nanocrystals, and non-centrosymmetric crystals, including innovative tools to reveal the subtle forms of emergent and topological order.

The world-class instrument facilities at UD will enable and catalyze the rational design, synthesis, and characterization of smart materials incorporating the MGI approach to inform the synthesis of soft matter and quantum confinement materials with ‘tunable properties.’ SMaRT QD aims to build from machine learning studies using the MGI approach in the ‘bottom-up’ assembly of building blocks to design with specific composition, morphology, and structural properties to hierarchical systems and controlling such systems; thereby facilitating the manipulation of properties through structure-function. SMaRT QD’s unique integration of partnerships, mentoring, and outreach efforts will be the model for URM early-engagement for institutional partnerships that link high schools and four- year institutions.

In the preparation of an MGI workforce, participants gain an education enabling them to work productively in teams whose expertise covers the broad materials spectrum from synthesis and characterization, theory and modeling, to design and manufacturing.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.