BRIGE: Functionalized electrospun membrane development and characterization for water disinfection

主要研究者：Heldt提案编号：1125585知识价值世界卫生组织估计，每年有170万人死于通过饮用水供应传播的感染性腹泻，这表明需要改进消毒技术。长期目标是制造廉价的功能化膜，通过吸附到大孔径膜上以允许高水通量来去除病毒和细菌。大孔径膜将降低膜污染和跨膜压力。作为实现这一长期目标的第一步，NSF-BRIGE赠款的目标是创建肽功能化的电纺膜，并量化其通量，传输特性和病毒去除能力。这是基于这样的假设，即肽官能化的电纺膜将吸附病毒颗粒并在过滤过程中保留它们，而不需要纯粹基于尺寸的分离。 这一假设得到了以下方面的支持：（i）电纺壳聚糖膜的理想特性，以及（ii）PI获得的小肽从溶液中捕获和去除病毒的实验证据。在此资助期间，对病毒清除机制的理解大幅增加，这将使PI能够在她新开发的实验室中进行探索性研究，并促进新的合作。要完成的具体目标，测试的假设是：目标1：分析和建模的电纺壳聚糖膜的病毒捕获和目标2：通过添加小的病毒结合肽增强病毒捕获。这项研究具有创新性和新颖性，因为它分析和模拟了独特的病毒去除膜，通过用多功能肽吸附病毒来进行水消毒，而不是纯粹通过尺寸排阻来去除病毒。这将增加水通量，降低跨膜压力，并减少膜污染。此外，向膜表面添加功能的能力允许将来添加其他功能以增加消毒能力，包括抗微生物肽。本研究的预期结果是分析和比较电纺壳聚糖膜（目标1）和肽功能化膜（目标2）的吸附和流动性能。这将产生的膜，减少饮用水中PPV（一种模型病毒）的病毒载量超过99.99%，这是EPA规定的病毒减少最低限度。这种新型膜的开发和表征将是朝着创建便携式，高通量和可持续水消毒过程的长期目标迈出的重要一步。这项拟议的研究预计将带来（i）病毒的小肽亲和吸附机制，（ii）电纺膜的流动特性，以及（iii）电纺壳聚糖膜作为过滤介质的稳定性的深入了解，同时（iv）教育年轻工程师以创新和多学科方法解决全球问题。这种膜的发展和表征是重要的，因为它将导致新的水净化技术，将挽救生命，在欠发达国家以及在这里在美国更广泛的影响在这个赠款的拟议活动将加强研究，教育和推广在密歇根理工大学，当地五大湖地区，并在整个欠发达国家。清洁的水是一种自然资源，我们必须妥善管理，以便子孙后代能够得到它。该提案将为环保和低能耗的水净化系统带来新的见解，这些系统可用于欠发达国家，市政水处理和农村社区，可以挽救数百万人的生命。包括的教育和推广计划将向从小学到研究生的学生介绍STEM领域，以及为世界上最贫困的人生产清洁水的必要性。参加SYP，MiCUP和西部U. P.科学博览会将吸引代表性不足和经济弱势群体，并将他们带到密歇根理工大学体验动手科学和工程项目，并鼓励他们在STEM领域追求职业生涯。

PI: HeldtProposal Number: 1125585Intellectual MeritThe World Health Organization estimates that 1.7 million people die each year due to infectious diarrhea that is transmitted through the drinking water supply, demonstrating the need for improved disinfection technologies. The long-term goal is to create inexpensive, functionalized membranes that will remove viruses and bacteria by adsorption onto large pore size membranes to allow high water fluxes. The large pore size membranes will decrease membrane fouling and transmembrane pressure. As a first step to attaining this long-term goal, the objective of this NSF-BRIGE grant is to create peptide-functionalized electrospun membranes and quantify their flux, transport properties, and virus removal capacity. This is based on the hypothesis that peptide-functionalized electrospun membranes will adsorb virus particles and retain them during filtration without the need of a purely size-based separation. This hypothesis is supported by (i) the desirable properties of electrospun chitosan membranes, and (ii) experimental evidence obtained by the PI that small peptides capture and remove viruses from solution. The substantial increase in mechanistic understanding of virus removal created during this grant period will allow the PI to undertake exploratory research in her newly developed laboratory and foster new collaborations. The specific goals to be accomplished that test the hypothesis are: Goal 1: Analyze and model the virus capture of electrospun chitosan membranes and Goal 2: Enhance virus capture with addition of small virus-binding peptides. The proposed research is innovative and novel because it analyzes and models unique virus removal membranes for water disinfection by adsorbing virus with multifunctional peptides instead of removing the virus purely by size exclusion. This will increase the water flux, decrease the transmembrane pressure, and decrease membrane fouling. In addition, the ability to add functionality to the membrane surface allows other functionality to be added in the future to increase the disinfection capacity, including antimicrobial peptides. The expected outcomes of this research are to analyze and compare the adsorption and flow properties of electrospun chitosan membranes (Goal 1) and peptide-functionalized membranes (Goal 2). This will produce membranes that reduce the viral load of PPV (a model virus) in drinking water by greater than 99.99%, an EPA regulated virus reduction minimum. Development and characterization of this novel membrane will be a substantial step toward the long-term goal of creating a portable, high flux, and sustainable water disinfection process. This proposed research is expected to bring in-depth knowledge of (i) the mechanism of small peptide affinity adsorption of viruses, (ii) the flow properties of electrospun membranes, and (iii) the stability of electrospun chitosan membranes as filtration media while (iv) educating young engineers to tackle global problems with innovative and multidisciplinary approaches. This membrane development and characterization is significant because it will lead to new water purification technologies that will save lives in underdeveloped countries as well as here in the U.S.Broader ImpactsThe proposed activities in this grant will strengthen the research, education, and outreach at Michigan Tech, the local Great Lakes region, and throughout the underdeveloped world. Clean water is a natural resource that we must manage properly so that it will be available for generations to come. This proposal will bring new insight into environmentally friendly and low energy water purification systems that can be used in underdeveloped nations, municipal water treatment and rural communities that could save millions of lives. The included education and outreach plan will introduce students from primary education up to graduate students to the STEM fields and the need to produce clean water for the poorest people in this world. Participation in SYP, MiCUP, and the Western U.P. Science Fair will attract underrepresented and economically disadvantaged groups and bring them to Michigan Tech to experience handson science and engineering programs and encourage them to pursue a career in a STEM fields.