PFI:AIR-TT: Novel Materials Scale-Up and Prototype Development for Air Quality Control in Confined Spaces

这个PFI：空气技术转化项目专注于将多孔材料商业化，以控制受限空间的空气质量。这一应用非常重要，因为它允许在潜艇、太空舱(国际空间站)和商业客机等封闭空间中因人类呼吸而在空气中积聚二氧化碳时清除二氧化碳。必须减轻这些环境中二氧化碳的积聚，以避免认知障碍、嗜睡、心率加快、头晕和呼吸短促等健康问题。这项工作要开发的主要创新是碳化物衍生碳(CDCs)的可控和可调合成。这些多孔材料被发现作为有效的“分子海绵”，能够“吸收”有毒的化学物质，如氨、甲醛和其他化学物质。这些材料还可以进行各种化学处理，如酸/碱洗涤和功能化，这将它们的适用性扩展到各种目标分离。CDC有可能在空气净化和气体分离领域产生巨大影响，但在材料的放大和设备层面的集成方面存在重大知识差距，这两个方面都对这些材料的商业化至关重要。该项目的研究人员将开发必要的方法，将碳化物衍生碳的合成扩大到20克的规模。目前尚不清楚超越简单实验室规模的疾病预防控制中心的生产程序，预计将对疾病预防控制中心在工业上的使用产生重大影响。此外，该项目将侧重于开发一个原型试验台，在那里可以演示概念验证吸附循环的性能。最终，该项目将提供合成手段和性能数据，以创建一个能够将受限空间中的二氧化碳浓度控制到特定水平(1000ppm)的吸附装置。这项工作的预期产出将分为三大类：(I)材料放大程序；(Ii)原型/试验台的设计和建造；(Iii)在现实条件下的二氧化碳去除性能演示。参与该项目的人员，包括一名化学工程本科生和博士后，将与项目合作伙伴NASA约翰逊航天中心和VentureLab的创业专家互动，进行客户发现和业务开发方法方面的培训。该培训将为学生和博士后提供独特的体验，包括客户发现实践和接触到更具应用性的快节奏研究。该项目邀请美国国家航空航天局约翰逊航天中心对原型进行测试。这种设备级测试对于实验室规模来说太大了，但仍然太小，无法适应更大的行业测试。因此，NASA的合作伙伴将提供一座跨越性能差距的关键桥梁，将这项创新从实验室转移到商业规模。他们将在项目结束前提供真实的性能数据，以支持该设备从研究发现到商业现实的持续发展。

This PFI: AIR Technology Translation project focuses on the commercialization of porous materials for the control of air quality in confined spaces. This application is important because it allows the removal of carbon dioxide as it builds up in the air due to human respiration in enclosed spaces such as submarines, space cabins (International Space Station), and commercial airliners. The build-up of CO2 in these environments must be mitigated to avoid health issues such as cognitive impairment, drowsiness, increased heart rate, dizziness, and shortness of breath. The principle innovation to be exploited in this work is the controlled and tunable synthesis of carbide-derived carbons (CDCs). These porous materials have been found to act as efficient "molecular sponges", capable of "soaking up" toxic chemicals such as ammonia, formaldehyde, and other chemical agents. The materials are also amenable to various chemical treatments such as acid/base washes and functionalization, which extends their applicability to a variety of target separations. CDCs have the potential for high impact in the air purification and gas separations fields, but there are major knowledge gaps in scale-up of the materials and integration at the device level, which are both essential for commercializing these materials. The researchers in this project will develop the methods necessary to scale-up the synthesis of carbide-derived carbons to the 20-gram scale. The procedures for producing CDCs beyond simple lab scale are currently unknown and are expected to have a significant impact on the use of CDCs in industry. Further, the project will focus on the development of a prototype test bed, where the performance of a proof-of-concept adsorption cycle can be demonstrated. Ultimately, the project will provide the synthesis means and performance data to create an adsorption unit capable of controlling CO2 concentrations in confined spaces to specified levels ( 1000ppm). The expected output of this work will fall into three major categories: (i) materials scale-up procedures; (ii) prototype/test bed design and construction; (iii) demonstration of CO2 removal performance under realistic conditions. The personnel involved in this project, including a chemical engineering undergraduate student and postdoctoral fellow, will interface with project partners NASA Johnson Space Center and experts in entrepreneurship at VentureLab for training in customer discovery and business development methods. This training will provide the student and postdoc with a unique experience that includes customer discovery practices and exposure to fast-paced research of a more applied nature. The project engages NASA Johnson Space Center for testing of the prototype. Such device-level testing is too large for lab scale, but still too small to adapt for larger industry testing. Thus, the NASA partners will provide a critical bridge across the performance gap to move this innovation from the lab to commercial scale. They will provide realistic performance data by project end to support the continued development of the device from research discovery toward commercial reality.