Sol-Gel Deposition for Repair of Conducting Paths in Polyceramic

THIS PROPOSAL AIMS TO DESIGN AND SYNTHESIZE COMPOSITES OF SOL-GEL CERAMICS AND CONDUCTING POLYMERS FOR REPAIR OF CONDUCTING PATHS IN POLYCERAMIC SYSTEMS. SOL-GEL CERAMIC COMPONENT OF THE COMPOSITES WILL FUNCTION AS ADHESIVE BONDING WHILE CONDUCTING POLYMERS PROVIDE ELECTRICALLY CONDUCTING PATH. THE SOL-GEL PROCESSES OFFER NEW APPROACHES TO THE PREPARATION OF HOMOGENEOUS CERAMICS AT LOW TEMPERATURE. WE PROPOSE A NOVEL CLASS OF MATERIALS WHICH COVALENTLY INCORPORATE ORGANIC POLYMERS INTO AN INORGANIC NETWORK AT THE MOLECULAR LEVEL VIA A MODIFIED SOL-GEL APPROACH. THESE MOLECULAR COMPOSITE MATERIALS WOULD HAVE TAILORED COMBINATIONS OF THE HARDNESS OF INORGANIC CERAMICS AND THE TOUGHNESS OF ORGANIC POLYMERS.ELECTRICALLY CONDUCTING POLYMERS ARE PROPOSED TO BE INCORPORATED INTO THE SOL-GEL MATRIX TO IMPROVE CONDUCTIVITY OF THE COMPOSITES. CONDUCTING POLYMERS ARE A NEW CLASS OF MATERIALS THAT POSSESS THE ELECTRONIC AND ELECTRICAL PROPERTIES OF METAL WHILE RETAINIING THE MACHANICAL PROPERTIES AND PROCESSIBILITY OF CONVENTIONAL POLYMERS. COMPUTATIONAL MODELING STUDIES WILL BE CARRIED OUT TO SUPPORT EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN AND SYNTHESIS WORK.