STTR Phase I: Nanomaterial Constructs With Controllable Catalytic Activity: Topic MM-Subtopic SMS

该奖项是根据2009年美国复苏和再投资法案（公法111-5）资助的。这个小型企业技术转移（STTR）第一阶段项目旨在开发具有催化活性的纳米结构，这种纳米结构可以通过外部触发器进行控制。纳米级金属氧化物具有独特的性质，可以用来改变催化活性。由自由基生成域和自由基清除域组成的纳米合金可以被设计成限制催化活性，直到提供外部控制，刺激化学结构的变化并提高一个域的催化活性。改变催化活性的能力将使多种应用得以开发，包括医疗疗法。开发具有可控催化活性的纳米结构的合成和表征，并展示其在外界刺激下的开关能力。纳米结构的催化活性将被表征为pH、光照和温度的函数。测量将与成分均匀性、平均成分、尺寸和缺陷浓度相关。由于二氧化铈是一种用于固态照明的荧光粉，第二个目标是应用相同的技术来提高效率，调整波长，或改变荧光寿命。更广泛的影响/商业潜力将是开发外部可切换的催化剂，这种催化剂体积大，应用范围广。应用将包括医疗保健应用、固态照明、太阳能电池、生化传感和远程触发催化剂。纳米颗粒清除和产生自由基的能力将对纳米生物技术领域产生巨大影响，并可能成为将纳米颗粒的毒性降至最低的必要特性。选择性杀死癌细胞或细菌的市场是潜在的价值数百万美元的产业。纳米结构可以作为荧光粉整合到新的或现有的固态照明装置中，以提高效率，并实现所需的光谱输出和光调制的修改。其他潜在的应用可能包括开发可自清洁的水基催化剂，以消除近室温燃料电池设计中的生物污垢，或远程生化传感。这项技术的受益者将是受伤的士兵、在第三班时使用昼夜节律照明保持警觉的工厂工人、使用改进电池、太阳能电池或抗菌绷带的用户。

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).This Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase I project seeks to develop nanoconstructs with catalytic activity which is controllable via an external trigger. Nanoscale metal oxides have unique properties that will be leveraged to change the catalytic activity. Nanoalloys composed of domains of free radical generators and domains of free radical scavengers can be designed to limit catalytic activity until an external control is provided, stimulating changes in the chemical structure and enhancing the catalytic activity of one domain over the other. The ability to switch the catalytic activity will enable several applications to be developed, including medical therapies. The synthesis and characterization of nanoconstructs with controllable catalytic activity and demonstration of switching capability under external stimulation will be developed. Catalytic activity of the nanoconstructs will be characterized as a function of pH, illumination, and temperature. Measurements will be correlated with composition uniformity, average composition, size, and defect concentration. As ceria is a phosphor used in solid state lighting, a secondary objective is to apply the same techniques to increase efficiency, tune the wavelength, or alter the fluorescence lifetime.The broader impact/commercial potential will be the development of externally switchable catalysts that are large and the applications varied. Applications would include health care applications, solid state lighting, solar cell, bio-chemical sensing, and remotely triggerable catalysts. The ability to switch the nanoparticle's free radical scavenging and generating behavior will have an enormous impact on the field of nanobiotechnology and may become a necessary property to minimize the toxicity of nanoparticles uptaken in the body. Markets for selective killing of cancer cells or bacteria are potentially multi-million dollar industries. The nanoconstructs can be incorporated as phosphors into new or existing solid state lighting fixtures to improve efficiency as well as achieve desired modifications of the spectral output and light modulation. Other potential applications could include the development of water-based catalysts that can self-clean to eliminate biofouling for near room-temperature fuel cell designs, or remote biochemical sensing. Beneficiaries of the technology will be a wounded soldier, a factory worker using circadian lighting to stay alert on third shift, users of improved batteries, solar cells, or antibacterial bandages.