In the search for ever more sustainable manufacturing techniques, additive manufacturing through light driven 3D printing processes is growing rapidly as a field, specifically the production of “living” materials which can be repaired and or reprocessed through the reactivation of polymer chain ends. Currently research in the production of these living materials is largely focused on radical polymerization methods. Cationic polymerizations have been developed for this purpose, although there is still much work to be done. This work seeks to explore a transition-metal free system to produce living materials through cationic reversible addition fragmentation chain-transfer (C-RAFT).Cationic polymerization is known for its rapid propagation. This is due to the highly reactive active center which also readily reacts with nucleophiles in unwanted chain transfer reactions. For this reason, reagents in living cationic polymerizations are subject to rigorous purification steps involving the distillation of monomer and solvent, freeze—pump—thaw cycles, and running the reaction under an inert environment1. These restrictions make living cationic polymerizations unattractive for 3D printing processes. New systems for rapid water tolerant C-RAFT photopolymerization will provide for new materials to be produced through this more sustainable manufacturing process. In this work, living cationic polymerization of isobutyl vinyl ether (IBVE) is achieved using a synthesized cationic RAFT agent and an initiating system consisting of camphorquinone (CQ), ethyl 4-(dimethylamino)benzoate, and iodonium salt HNu-254. Molecular weights of 12 kg/mol are achieved with a dispersity of 1.4. The polymerization mechanism is probed and shows rapid kinetics consistent with living polymerizations in addition to photo-controllability as indicated by light on-off experiments. Chain extension experiments display re-activation of the trithiocarbonate chain end. This feature is then used to produce block-copolymers using ethyl vinyl ether and cyclohexyl vinyl ether.

Creating 3D objects out of high performance polymers, such as polyimides, is notoriously difficult since the highly stable polymer backbone limits processibility without extreme conditions. However, designing the polyimide precursor to crosslink upon photoirradiation enables the additive manufacturing of polyimides into complex, 3D objects. Crosslinking the photoactive polyimide precursor forms a solid 3D organogel, then subsequent thermal treatment removes the sacrificial scaffold and simultaneously imidizes the precursor into a 3D polyimide. The collaborative efforts of the Long and Williams group at Virginia Tech created three chemically distinct photoactive polyimide precursors to additively manufacture 3D polyimide objects for aerospace applications and to maintain the nuclear stockpile. The first chapter of this dissertation introduces fully aromatic polyimides and the additive manufacturing techniques used to print photoactive polyimide precursors. The second chapter reviews the common pore forming methods typically utilized to develop porous polyimides for low dielectric applications. The following chapters investigate the impact of the sacrificial scaffold on the thermo-oxidative aging behavior of the polyimide precursors after imidization, then focuses on lowering the imidization temperature of the polyimide precursor using base catalysis. These investigations lead to the creation of photoactive polysalts with polyethylene glycol (PEG) side chains to develop 3D, porous polyimides with tunable morphologies. Varying the molecular weight and concentration of the PEG side chains along the backbone tuned the pore size, and the photoactive nature of the polyimide precursor enabled 3D, porous polyimides printed using digital light processing.

The world today needs novel solutions to address current challenges in areas spanning areas from sustainable manufacturing to healthcare, and biotechnology offers the potential to help address some of these issues. One tool that offers opportunities across multiple industries is the use of nonribosomal peptide synthases (NRPSs). These are modular biological factories with individualized subunits that function in concert to create novel peptides.One element at the heart of environmental health debates today is plastics. Biodegradable alternatives for petroleum-based plastics is a necessity. One NRPS, cyanophycin synthetase (CphA), can produce cyanophycin grana protein (CGP), a polymer composed of a poly-aspartic acid backbone with arginine side chains. The aspartic backbone has the potential to replace synthetic polyacrylate, although current production costs are prohibitive. In Chapter 2, a CphA variant from Tatumella morbirosei is characterized, that produces up to 3x more CGP than other known variants, and shows high iCGP specificity in both flask and bioreactor trials. Another CphA variant, this one from Acinetobacter baylyi, underwent rational protein design to create novel mutants. One, G217K, is 34% more productive than the wild type, while G163K produces a CGP with shorter chain lengths. The current structure refined from 4.4Å to 3.5Å. Another exciting application of NRPSs is in healthcare. They can be used to generate novel peptides such as complex antibiotics. A recently discovered iterative polyketide synthase (IPTK), dubbed AlnB, produces an antibiotic called allenomycin. One of the modular subunits, a dehydratase named AlnB_DH, was crystallized to 2.45Å. Several mutations were created in multiple active site residues to help understand the functional mechanism of AlnB_DH. A preliminary holoenzyme AlnB structure at 3.8Å was generated although the large disorganized regions demonstrated an incomplete structure. It was found that chain length is the primary factor in driving dehydratase action within AlnB_DH, which helps lend understanding to this module.