I-Corps: Biomanufacturing of Advanced Porous Carbon Materials

这个I-Corps项目的更广泛影响/商业潜力涉及开发由真菌衍生前体制成的多孔碳材料。预计到2020年，对活性炭（AC）等多孔碳材料的需求将超过供应能力。由于空调被用于水过滤、空气净化和能源储存等应用，因此开发新型高性能空调势在必行。这项新技术利用废水中存在的可持续碳源，如市政和工业废水，来培养可调的空调生物模板，这些生物模板有可能超过传统的空调。通过在制造过程中处理废水，边际成本降低，生产发生在终端消费者附近。这个NSF I-Corps项目将帮助确定真菌衍生活性炭的潜在产品市场。这是一种平台技术，利用丝状真菌从废水中捕获可再生和可持续的碳，作为各种合成碳的基础。存在于废水中的有机碳为潜在的成本节约和大规模生产提供了一种营养来源。利用真菌快速生长的优势，并控制炭化条件，有可能以目前产品成本的一小部分生产商业碳。生长阶段的可调性开启了一系列有利的产品开发，如微观结构、掺杂剂和化学。新衍生的活性炭的主要优点包括整体结构、纳米金属集成、高表面积、高纯度、可再生标签潜力和低生产成本。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project deals with the development of porous carbon materials made from fungal-derived precursors. The demand for porous carbon materials, like activated carbon (AC), is expected to surpass supply capabilities by 2020. Since AC is used in applications such as water filtration, air purification, and energy storage, it is imperative to develop new and higher performing versions of AC. This new technology takes advantage of sustainable carbon sources present in wastewater, such as municipal and industrial, to grow tunable biotemplates for AC which have the potential to outperform traditional AC. By treating wastewater during manufacturing, marginal cost is reduced and production occurs near end consumers.This NSF I-Corps project will help determine a potential product-market fit for fungal derived activated carbons. This is a platform technology using filamentous fungus to capture renewable and sustainable carbon from wastewater as a base for a variety of synthetic carbons. Organic carbon, present in wastewater, provide a nutrient source for potential cost savings and large scale production. By taking advantage of facile and rapid fungal growth, and controlling the carbonization conditions, it may be possible to produce commercial carbons at a fraction of the cost of current products. Tunability in the growth stage unlocks a series of advantageous product developments such as microstructure, dopants, and chemistry. The main advantages of the newly derived activated carbon include monolithic structures, nano-metal integration, high surface area, high purity, potential for renewable labeling, and low production cost.