Systematic increase of chain stiffness, via polymer backbone steric crowding from stilbene incorporation, resulted in unique solution and solid state properties of the new polymer materials. Functionalized stilbene containing nanoporous polymers were observed to possess surface areas up to 1000 m 2 /g and hold promise for carbon dioxide capture and gas storage applications. Collaborative research with Penn State and the DOE Molecular Foundry confirmed the nanoporous properties of these copolymers. Stilbene containing polyelectrolytes exhibited aqueous solution properties, including pH and salt responsiveness, consistent with the congested semi-rigid backbone. New examples of block copolymers with unusual pH and salt responsiveness (“like-charge” attraction) are currently under investigation. These properties suggest applications for particle stabilization, etc. are possible. Sterically Congested and Stiffened Alternating Copolymers: Synthesis, Solution and Solid-State Properties Richard Turner, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, DMR Fig. 2 (right): A simulation box of stilbene containing nanoporous polymer, illustrating the polymer framework (orange) and pore volume (maroon) (courtesy C. Colina, Penn State). Fig. 1 (left): An example of new stilbene containing block copolymers.

Outreach : Prof. Turner, as Director of Macromolecules and Interfaces Institute (MII) at Virginia Tech, participates in many outreach programs. He serves on the board of directors for the Virginia Tech Intellectual Properties Group and is a committee member for the Interdisciplinary Graduate Education Program of the Virginia Tech Graduate School. He is the editor for the Americas (chemistry and synthesis) for POLYMER and is on the editorial boards of four other leading polymer journals. He actively participates in augmenting the MII NSF-REU program by sponsoring picnics, team building exercises, and presenting lectures on intellectual property. He chairs the ACS PMSE Division’s Distinguished Service Award Committee. He participates with the VT Office of Economic Development bridging MII research capabilities with small polymer based companies in south and southwest Virginia. He teaches in the MII outreach short course on adhesion science. He also teaches a graduate course entitled “Future Industrial Professional in Science and Engineering” which helps prepare students for careers in the industrial sector. Education : Three graduate students, Alice Savage, Xu Zhou, and Jing Huang contributed to progress on this project this past year. Results were summarized in two oral presentations at ACS meetings. One publication in Macromolecules and one publication in Journal of Polymer Science Part B: Polymer Physics are in press. Two Virginia Tech undergraduate students, Elizabeth Ullrich and Caitlyn Kost, were mentored by Alice Savage in the fall of 2012 and spring of Jing Huang, Xu Zhou, and Alice Savage analyze thermal properties on the DSC instrument. Alice Savage, Jing Huang, and Xu Zhou determine rheological properties of semi-rigid copolymers. Highly Functionalized Macromolecules Based on Copolymerization of Substituted Stilbene Monomers Richard Turner, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, DMR