SBIR Phase II: High-Affinity Cyclodextrin Polymers for Point-of-Use Filtration Products

这个小型企业创新研究（SBIR）项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是通过开发一种用于使用点/家庭过滤应用的先进吸附剂，为饮用水污染问题提供解决方案。水资源中存在的微污染物、药物残留物、农药、工业化学品和其他有机化合物的微量浓度为十亿分之一或更低，被认为是污染的主要因素。由于存在微污染物和其他污染物，世界各地的消费者不再相信饮用水的安全性。这些化合物无处不在，在微量浓度下就会产生毒性。因此，消费者大大增加了对塑料瓶装水的不可持续使用，而塑料瓶装水现在是一个2600亿美元的市场。目前的使用点过滤产品主要是为了改善味道和气味，通常在去除微污染物方面是无效的。CycloPure的技术专门用于瞄准和去除水中的微污染物。该项目重点是进一步开发该公司的环糊精吸附剂，以提高使用点过滤器的有效性。这种材料可以作为一个插入式的替代品，而无需改变过滤器的设计。CycloPure的材料将允许家庭安全使用现成的自来水。该SBIR二期项目建议确定策略，以开发合适的外形因子，将CycloPure的高亲和力环糊精吸附剂纳入使用点过滤器。该公司的吸附剂是通过从玉米淀粉中提取的环糊精与现成的单体反应形成的。在该项目一期期间，确定了可扩展的反应条件，以生产粉末形式的吸附剂。流通过应用，如重力过滤器，经常需要颗粒颗粒，以达到所需的流量。早期的活动将集中在颗粒状吸附剂的制备上，以证明可伸缩性和保留类似于粉末形式的去除性能。此后，将进行柱状研究，以评估颗粒介质在与环境相关的微污染物浓度下在流过条件下的去除性能。在确定吸附特性和适当的流动条件后，将构建一个原型使用点过滤器，并使用先进的分析技术，包括目标和非目标筛选方法的组合，测试从自来水中去除微污染物。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值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 Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) project is to provide a solution to the problem of drinking water contamination by developing an advanced adsorbent for point-of-use/home filtration applications. Micropollutants, pharmaceutical residues, pesticides, industrial chemicals and other organic compounds present in water resources at trace concentrations of one part per billion and less, are recognized as a major factor of contamination. Consumers around the world no longer trust the safety of their drinking water due to the presence of micropollutants and other contaminants. These compounds are pervasive and can present toxicity at trace concentrations. As a result, consumers have significantly increased the non-sustainable use of plastic bottled water, now a $260 billion market. Current point-of-use filtration products are primarily designed to improve taste and odor, and are generally ineffective in removing micropollutants. CycloPure's technology has been developed specifically to target and remove micropollutants from water. This project focuses on the further development of the company's cyclodextrin adsorbent to improve the effectiveness of point-of-use filters. This material can be used as a drop-in replacement without changes in filter design. CycloPure's materials will allow households to safely use readily available tap water.This SBIR Phase II project proposes to identify strategies to develop a suitable form factor to incorporate CycloPure's high-affinity cyclodextrin adsorbent into point-of-use filters. The company's adsorbent is formed by reacting cyclodextrins, which are derived from corn starch, with readily available monomers in a single step process. During the Phase I period of this project, scalable reaction conditions were identified for production of the adsorbent in powder form. Flow-through applications, such as gravity filters, frequently require granular particles to achieve desired flow rates. Early activities will focus on the preparation of the adsorbent in granular form to demonstrate scalability and retention of removal performance similar to powder form. Thereafter, column studies will be performed in order to assess the removal performance of granular media under flow-through conditions at environmentally relevant micropollutant concentrations. Following identification of adsorption characteristics and appropriate flow conditions, a prototype point-of-use filter will be constructed and tested for the removal of micropollutants from tap water using advanced analytical techniques, including a combination of target and non-target screening approaches.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.