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

NSF/DMR-BSF：用于质子和电子-质子传导膜的仿生肽材料

• 批准号: 1608454
• 负责人: David Beratan
• 金额: $ 39万
• 依托单位: Duke University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2016
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2016-08-15 至 2020-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1608454&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: NSF; DMR; BSF; Bioinspired; peptidic

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.

非技术性：这项由杜克大学材料研究部生物材料项目颁发的NSF/DMR-BSF奖项旨在生产、建模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)的科学家合作的提案，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独创性用于现代电子和设备的服务，用于交通、能源生产和储存、传感和其他环境挑战中的环境友好应用。这些技术的应用在汽车工业、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将非常重要。虽然生物材料蛋白质在这些感兴趣的目标应用中可能功能不佳，但借用一些自然界的基序和构建块可以用来生产捕捉生物分子的一些关键功能的材料，同时仍然在要求严格的非生物环境中有效地发挥作用。拟议的理论和实验研究有望推动基于生物构建块的组件的开发。此外，拟议的理论研究将使在原子水平上对分子机制进行准确建模成为可能。该项目的合作实验-理论性质促进了学生在活跃的多学科环境中的巨大交叉培训，其中将包括来自美国和以色列两所大学的学生和教职员工。在指导学生方面，该提案特别关注新课程的开发，以及在招募和指导未被充分代表的群体进入科学和技术职业方面。技术：该项目将理论和实验研究与化学合成和材料表征相结合，以设计和阐明生物启发的电子-质子传输膜的功能。广泛的研究表明，在这些生物启发的结构中，质子传导通道的排列是高质子电导率所必需的。这一发现推动了自组装pi堆积多肽的研究，这些多肽形成了β片层，并导致了为质子运输设计的路径。这个项目的主要目标是利用各种理论和实验方法来探索具有β-片状结构(纤维和纳米管)的生物蛋白质组件中的电荷传输(质子和/或电子传输，或质子-电子耦合传输)的机制。在这些生物组装体的具体例子中，对质子和电子以及质子-电子耦合传输机制的基本了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氨基酸和工程氨基酸(带有修饰的侧链)，由于关键的氢键基序，这些氨基酸可以自组装成纤维或纳米管。由于质子转移可能涉及侧链和酰胺键之间，这些组装有望为内部网络提供有效的长距离质子转移继电器。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，但还不能在更宽的温度和水合状态范围内运行。此外，正在研究的生物材料可能支持质子耦合电子传输的可调通道，这将为氢分离结构的发展提供有利条件。对这些材料中电荷传输的理论研究将把早期的理论扩展到介观尺度，包括数千个分子的尺度上的传输。该项目中的理论研究将使用从从头算方法到粗粒度分子动力学和数学建模的模拟工具。通过将合成、理论和材料表征相结合，该项目将试图实现这一领域的前景。该项目的科学影响更广泛，是将大自然的独创性用于现代电子产品服务，这可能会对交通、能源生产和储存、传感和环境挑战产生令人满意的长期影响。