Grant: Engage Grants Program

The proposed research is directed at addressing the immediate needs of Sciventions Inc. by improving their product lines of advanced functional micro- and nanoparticle dispersions. The company is seeking to improve the stability of their advanced products based on micro- and nanoparticles to attain improved shelf-life and to extend the offerings of their products lines. The Principle Investigator's (PI's) research group has an established advanced expertise in micro- and nanoparticle dispersions, including stabilization and size- and shape-control of micro- and nanoparticles and their self-assembly. The PI's team has the immediate knowledge of how to solve the company problems based on their direct experience with the same or similar systems. The proposed project team is currently in place, and under the guidance of the PI and the team leader, students will helpfully assist in the project and gain valuable experience in applying their chemistry knowledge to solve practical problems. The groundwork has been laid for the immediate application of known solutions to specific systems (such as magnetic iron oxide and plasmonic nanoparticles) to develop the procedures to address Scivention's needs in the very short time frame of the project. The direct outcome of the project will be documented synthetic protocols for the company to independently prepare more stable dispersions by their suitable technical personnel to attain a wide range of micro- and nanoparticle products. Upon successfully addressing company needs, there are further plans for more advanced collaborations based on extending company products in polyelectrolyte-based systems and PI's expertize in monodisperse colloids to develop novel advanced core-shell systems and to further expand on the partnership.