NSF Creates Polymer Chemistry Optimization Center at Duke for Future Materials

The National Science Foundation has awarded a five-year, $20 million grant to Duke University researchers to explore and optimize the chemical structure and physical properties of individual molecules in a polymer network.

“The long-term potential of this research includes cost- and time-efficient optimization of the polymers used in products like biomedical implants, building materials and even automobile tires,” said principal investigator Stephen Craig, the William T. Miller Distinguished Professor of Chemistry at Duke. “We hope to discover new ways to make tougher, longer-lived materials with improved end-of-life properties that reduce waste while being perfectly tailored to their intended uses.”

“The scientific path being charted by the MONET team will further national priorities in advanced manufacturing, sustainability and artificial intelligence.”

NSF Division Director David Berkowitz

The NSF-funded Phase II Center for Chemical Innovation (CCI) known as MONET (Center for the Chemistry of Molecularly Optimized Networks) is the result of a highly competitive process and one of only seven Phase II CCIs funded in the last decade. Phase I MONET, also led by Duke, featured prominent chemists from MIT and Northwestern.

This new Phase II MONET aims to transform scientists' ability to translate molecular-level design into macroscopic behavior for complex and chaotic polymer networks. The MONET team is undertaking a multi-pronged approach in which they will engage state-of-the-art polymer synthesis, physical and chemical characterization, while employing a rich, data-centric analysis with advanced theory. This includes using an innovative platform called BigSMILES (Simplified Molecular-Input Line-Entry System), which provides a common language of identifiers for the chemistry community to use for indexing and in polymer databases to represent polymeric structures.  

“The scientific path being charted by the MONET team will further national priorities in advanced manufacturing, sustainability and artificial intelligence,” said NSF Division Director David Berkowitz.

The MONET team will bring together experts in polymer chemistry, synthetic methods, photochemistry, multi-scale modeling and bioconjugation. While led by Duke, the center will include researchers from Columbia University, Johns Hopkins, MIT, Northwestern, University of California–San Diego, University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign, University of Michigan and University of Washington.

The senior investigator team includes, in addition to Stephen Craig, Duke’s Michael Rubinstein, the Aleksandar S. Vesic Distinguished Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science and professor of chemistry, physics, and biomedical engineering, who specializes in polymer modeling.

In addition to its scientific activities, MONET will work to broaden participation and improve student training in the sciences and advance the public appreciation and commercial translation of its findings.