SBIR Phase I: Improving Indoor Air Quality using a Biosilica Based Functional Paint & Coatings Photocatalyst

SBIR 第一阶段：使用生物硅基功能涂料改善室内空气质量

• 批准号: 1746759
• 负责人: Nicholas Day
• 金额: $ 22.5万
• 依托单位: Diatomix, Inc.
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2018
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2018-01-01 至 2018-10-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1746759&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: SBIR; Phase; Improving; Indoor; Air

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project will develop a material which when added to commercial paint and coatings can improve indoor air quality by actively removing and degrading Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs). Indoor air quality is generally five times worse than outdoor air quality and VOCs are prevalent in indoor environments, being emitted from typical household items like electronics, cleaners, and flooring. People spend 90% of their lives in indoor environments, making poor indoor air quality a more acute health risk. VOCs are known to cause and worsen allergic diseases such as asthma and eczema, which combined, costs the United States approximately $56 billion in medical spending and lost work productivity every year. Alleviating the discomfort and financial burdens posed by allergic diseases can improve the standard of living of over 60 million affected Americans in the United States. Low- and zero-VOC paints ($9 billion market) are the fastest growing segment of architectural paints ($62 billion market). This technology has the potential to dramatically improve indoor air quality and make everyday living better for children, the elderly, and adults suffering from allergic diseases.The intellectual merit of this project will further the understanding of using diatoms in conjunction with a photocatalyst to harvest light as an energy source for the removal of pollutants from environments. Diatoms have been shown to increase the collection of ultraviolet, blue and red wavelengths of light. As a substrate for photocatalysts which utilize these wavelengths, diatoms may provide a superior light collection capability, increasing the effectiveness of photocatalysts. The proposed aim is to show an increase in the photocatalytic rate of VOC degradation which could help to make metal oxide photocatalysis a more viable option for air treatment. The proposed research makes the following contributions: 1) advancement of efficient visible light photocatalysis with a diatom-based additive; 2) understanding integration of photocatalytic paint additives into base paint and coatings mixtures, optimized for minimal paint substrate degradation and maximal photocatalytic degradation of indoor air-pollutants; and 3) long-term improvement of indoor air quality. Overall it is expected that this Phase I will show diatoms, as substrates, can increase the rate of photocatalysts up to two times under typical irradiation sources. This project targets cleaner indoor environments through pollutant removal activity without increased energy usage.

这个小型企业创新研究第一阶段项目将开发一种材料，当添加到商业涂料和涂料中时，可以通过积极去除和降解挥发性有机化合物(VOC)来改善室内空气质量。室内空气质量一般比室外空气质量差五倍，VOCs在室内环境中很普遍，来自电子产品、清洁剂和地板等典型家居用品的排放。人们一生中90%的时间是在室内环境中度过的，这使得糟糕的室内空气质量成为更严重的健康风险。众所周知，VOCs会导致和加重哮喘和湿疹等过敏性疾病，这些疾病加在一起，每年给美国造成约560亿美元的医疗支出和工作效率损失。减轻过敏性疾病带来的不适和经济负担可以改善美国6000多万受影响的美国人的生活水平。低VOC涂料和零VOC涂料(市场价值90亿美元)是增长最快的建筑涂料市场(市场价值620亿美元)。这项技术有可能极大地改善室内空气质量，让患有过敏性疾病的儿童、老年人和成年人的日常生活变得更好。该项目的智力优势将进一步加深人们对使用硅藻和光催化剂收集光线作为能源以去除环境中污染物的理解。研究表明，硅藻可以增加紫外线、蓝色和红色波长的光的收集。作为利用这些波长的光催化剂的底物，硅藻可以提供优越的光收集能力，提高光催化剂的效率。建议的目的是提高光催化降解VOC的速率，这将有助于使金属氧化物光催化成为更可行的空气处理选择。这项研究的贡献如下：1)硅藻基光催化高效可见光催化的进展；2)了解光催化涂料助剂与基漆和涂料混合物的集成，从而优化涂料基材的最小降解和室内空气污染物的最大光催化降解；以及3)室内空气质量的长期改善。总体而言，预计这一阶段将显示，硅藻作为底物，可以在典型的照射源下将光催化剂的速率提高两倍。该项目的目标是在不增加能源使用量的情况下，通过清除污染物的活动来清洁室内环境。