PFI-TT: Production and Formulation of Janus Colloids for Personal and Healthcare Applications.

这个PFI项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力集中在生产和配方生物兼容的不对称胶体，称为Janus胶体，以创造具有更好的自我生活和稳定性以及性能(包括提供活性成分、吸油量和减少对皮肤刺激)的个人和保健消费品。消费产品的Janus胶体无法商业化，部分原因是缺乏规模化技术，能够：1)推动基础洞察和开发所需的翻译研究；2)进行规模化，以满足潜在的行业需求。这项提案中介绍的技术克服了Janus胶体商业化的这些主要瓶颈，这些瓶颈可能会导致就业增长，因为根据这项提案开发的专利将被授权给新发展的企业。此外，在纳米尺度上对聚合物-聚合物相行为和Janus胶体的结构-性质关系的基本见解将是解决商业化瓶颈的自然结果。该提案将促进广泛的教育和外展计划，其目的是扩大获得科学技术的机会，并鼓励创业作为职业道路。拟议的项目解决了基本知识差距，这些知识差距需要在扩大闪光纳米沉淀的规模之前了解，以生产消费产品中的Janus胶体，并将其首次推向市场。这项研究提供了基本的见解，说明了如何将使用快速微观混合和动力学阻止沉淀的胶体形成与纳米级的聚合物相分离相结合，可以导致Janus胶体的生产。商业化需要将闪光纳米沉淀的工艺参数与组装Janus胶体的聚合物的分子参数联系起来：工艺-结构关系研究。第二层次的结构和性质关系是Janus胶体的几何和性质之间的联系，作为个人和保健产品配方中所需性质的两亲性。特别是，这项建议旨在通过了解聚合物-聚合物相互作用、界面性质和分子特征(例如，分子量和玻璃化转变)如何影响Janus胶体的结构，来制定生物相容性Janus胶体生产的规则。结构将使用最先进的三维显微镜工具进行评估。此外，这项工作旨在揭示Janus胶体如何在不同的配方和工艺参数下稳定乳液和泡沫，包括对离心场、温度和极性的稳定性，这将导致配方性能的增强。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this PFI project focuses on the production and formulation of biocompatible asymmetric colloids, termed Janus colloids, to create personal- and health-care consumer products with improved self-life and stability as well as performance including delivery of active ingredients, oil uptake and reduced skin irritation. Janus colloids for consumer products are not commercially available, in part, due to the lack of a scale technology that can i) drive the required translational research needed for fundamental insight and development and ii) be scaled to meet potential industry demand. The technology presented in this proposal overcomes these major bottlenecks towards the commercialization of Janus colloids that could lead to job growth, as the patents developed from this proposal will be licensed to a newly developed enterprise. Furthermore, fundamental insights into polymer-polymer phase behavior at the nanoscale and structure-property relationships of Janus colloids will be a natural outcome of addressing the bottlenecks towards commercialization. The proposal will facilitate an extensive education and outreach program with one aim of expanding access to science and technology and encouraging entrepreneurship as a career path.The proposed project addresses fundamental knowledge gaps which require understanding prior to the scale up of Flash NanoPrecipitation for the production and first-to-market commercialization of Janus colloids in consumer products. The study provides fundamental insights into how combining colloid formation using rapid micro-mixing and kinetically arrested precipitation with polymer phase separation at the nanoscale can lead to the production of Janus colloids. Commercialization requires connecting processing parameters of Flash NanoPrecipitation with the molecular parameters of the polymers from which the Janus colloids are assembled: process-structure relationship studies. The second-level of structure and property relationship is the connection between the geometry and properties of Janus colloids, as amphiphiles to the desired properties for formulations in personal- and health-care products. In particular, this proposal aims to develop the rules of biocompatible Janus colloid production by understanding how polymer-polymer interactions, interfacial properties, and molecular characteristics, e.g., molecular weight and glass transition, influence the structure of Janus colloids. Structure will be evaluated using state-of-the art three-dimensional microscopy tools. Furthermore, the work aims to reveal how Janus colloids stabilize emulsions and foams with respect to different formulations and process parameters including stability against centrifugal fields, temperature and polarity which will lead to enhanced formulation properties.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.