NSF/DMR-BSF: Bioinspired peptidic materials for proton and electron-proton conducting membranes

非技术：由杜克大学材料研究部生物材料项目颁发的NSF/DMR-BSF奖旨在生产、模拟和研究受生物结构启发的创新材料。这是一项与美国和以色列（内盖夫本古里安大学）科学家的合作提案，该奖项由国际科学与工程办公室的全球风险基金项目共同资助。该项目的科学目标是将大自然的聪明才智应用于现代电子和设备，以实现交通、能源生产和储存、传感和其他环境挑战方面的环保应用。这些技术在汽车工业、工业能源生产过程以及为植入式生物医学设备提供能源方面的应用将非常重要。虽然生物材料蛋白质在这些有针对性的应用中可能不能很好地发挥作用，但借用自然界的一些基序和构建块可以用来生产捕获生物分子的一些关键功能的材料，同时在要求苛刻的非生物环境中仍然有效地发挥作用。提出的理论和实验研究有望推动基于生物构建块的组件的发展。此外，提出的理论研究将使分子机制在原子水平上的精确建模成为可能。这个项目的实验-理论合作性质促进了学生在一个充满活力的多学科环境中的交叉训练，其中包括来自美国和以色列两所大学的学生和教师。在指导学生方面，该提案特别关注新课程的开发，以及招募和指导代表性不足的群体进入科学和技术领域。技术：本项目结合理论和实验研究，结合化学合成和材料表征，设计和阐明生物激发电子-质子传输膜的功能。广泛的研究表明，在这些生物启发结构中，质子传导通道的排列是高质子导电性所必需的。这一发现激发了对自组装pi堆叠多肽的研究，这些多肽形成β片，并导致质子运输的设计途径。该项目的主要目标是利用各种理论和实验方法探索具有β -片结构（原纤维和纳米管）的生物蛋白质组件中的电荷传输机制（质子和/或电子传输，或耦合质子-电子传输）。在这些特定的生物组件示例中，对质子和电子以及耦合质子-电子传递机制的基本理解将有助于建立结构-功能关系，以优化生物启发材料的导电性能。这些令人感兴趣的结构包括天然和工程氨基酸（带有修饰的侧链），由于关键的氢键基序，它们可以自组装成纤维或纳米管。由于质子转移可以在侧链和酰胺键之间进行，因此这些组件有望提供具有有效远程质子传输中继的内在网络。研究人员实验室的初步数据支持开发低成本材料的概念，从长远来看，这种材料可能能够与有利的质子传输膜材料（例如，Nafion）竞争，并且在更宽的温度和水合状态范围内工作。此外，所研究的生物材料可能支持质子耦合电子传递的可调通道，这将为氢分离结构的发展提供优势。这些材料中电荷输运的理论研究将把早期的理论扩展到中尺度，包括数千个分子尺度上的输运。该项目的理论研究将使用模拟工具，从从头算方法到粗粒度分子动力学和数学建模。通过结合合成、理论和材料表征，该项目将尝试实现这一领域的前景。该项目在科学上的广泛影响是将大自然的聪明才智用于现代电子产品的服务，这可能会对交通、能源生产和储存、传感和环境挑战产生理想的长期影响。

Nontechnical: This NSF/DMR-BSF award by the Biomaterials program in the Division of Materials Research to Duke University aims to produce, model and study innovative materials that are inspired by biological structures. This is a collaborative proposal with scientists from US and Israel (Ben Gurion University of the Negev), and this award is co-funded by the Global Venture Funds program in the Office of International Science and Engineering. The scientific goal of this project is to put the ingenuity of nature to the service of modern electronics and devices for environment friendly applications in transportation, energy production and storage, sensing, and other environmental challenges. Applications of these technologies would be very important in the automotive industry, in industrial energy production processes, and in providing energy sources for implantable biomedical devices. While biological materials proteins may not function well in these targeted applications of interest, borrowing some of the motifs and building blocks of nature can be used to produce materials that capture some of the critical functions of biomolecules, while still functioning effectively in demanding non-biological settings. The proposed theoretical and experimental studies are expected to advance the development of components based on biological building blocks. In addition, the proposed theoretical studies would enable the accurate modeling of molecular mechanisms at an atomic level. The collaborative experimental-theoretical nature of this project promotes great cross-training of students in a lively multi-disciplinary setting that will include students and faculty members from two universities at USA and Israel. In mentoring the students, the proposal is particularly attentive to novel curriculum developments, and in recruiting and mentoring underrepresented groups into careers in science and technology.Technical: This project combines theoretical and experimental studies with chemical synthesis and materials characterization to design and elucidate the function of bioinspired electron-proton transport membranes. Extensive studies indicate that the alignment of proton-conduction channels is required for high proton conductivities in these bioinspired structures. This finding motivates the study of self-assembling pi-stacked polypeptides that form beta sheets and lead to designed pathways for proton transport. The main objective of this project is to explore the mechanisms of charge transport (proton and/or electron transport, or coupled proton-electron transport) in biological protein assemblies with beta-sheet architecture (fibrils and nanotubes) using a variety of theoretical and experimental approaches. Fundamental understanding of proton and electron and coupled proton-electron transport mechanisms in these specific examples of biological assemblies will help to establish the structure-function relationship to optimize conductive properties of bioinspired materials. These structures of interest involve natural and engineered amino acids (with modified side-chains) that can self-assemble into fibers or nanotubes because of key hydrogen-bonding motifs. Since proton transfer can involve between side chains and amide bonds, these assemblies promise to provide intrinsic networks with effective long-range proton transport relays. Preliminary data in the investigator's laboratory support the concept of developing lower-cost materials that may, in the long run, be able to compete with favorable proton-transport membrane materials (e.g., Nafion), and yet to operate in a widened ranges of temperature and hydration states. In addition, the biomaterials under study may support tunable channels for proton-coupled electron transport, which would provide advantages for the development of hydrogen separation structures. The theoretical study of charge transport in these materials will extend earlier theories to the mesoscale, encompassing transport on the scale of thousands of molecules. The theoretical studies in the project will use simulation tools that range from ab initio methods to coarse-grained molecular dynamics and mathematical modeling. By combining synthesis, theory, and materials characterization, the project will attempt to realize the promise of this field. The scientific broader impact of this project is to put the ingenuity of nature to the service of modern electronics, which may produce desirable long-term impacts on transportation, energy production and storage, sensing, and environmental challenges.