SBIR Phase I: NANOSTRUCTURED 3D CATALYTIC COATINGS FOR HIGH-EFFICIENCY POLLUTION CONTROL AND AIR PURIFICATION

这个小型企业创新研究(SBIR)第一阶段项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是应对污染减排和空气净化的全球挑战，这些挑战对环境、健康和经济有着深远的影响。每年在排放控制活动上花费数千亿美元，但空气污染每年给全球经济造成超过5万亿美元的福利成本，每八人中就有一人死于空气污染。目前的工业催化空气净化技术的设计和性能不足以处理越来越多的空气污染物。为这一问题找到可持续、成本效益高的解决方案，鉴于监管收紧，这一解决方案正变得越来越重要。我们提出的技术具有很高的商业化潜力，因为它具有成本效益，显示出出色的长期性能，并具有在美国现有制造框架内进行可扩展制造的潜力。此外，该公司的创始人是该技术的发明者，拥有核心知识产权的独家许可。值得注意的是，我们的运行温度降低得到了业界的好评，我们通过NSF I-Corps等项目进行的客户发现工作的结果证明了这一点。这个小型企业创新研究(SBIR)第一阶段项目解决了催化转化器中的突出挑战，特别是与冷启动、耐用性和高成本相关的技术挑战，这些挑战可以归因于大量铂族金属的使用以及对这些金属有限储量的依赖。通过高度可控的成分以及纳米、微观和宏观结构，我们以前已经证明，在催化分解已知污染物时，贵金属含量显著降低。该SBIR项目的研究目标是开发一种可扩展的方法，将这些先进的催化材料沉积到与工业相关的基质上，促进并加速将它们整合到商业产品中，以解决日益严重的空气污染和温室气体排放问题。技术工作将涉及这些材料的合成和合成方案的修改，以与这种大规模沉积过程兼容，以及寿命、坚固性和催化测试。它将需要建筑设备来进行证词。克服作为SBIR项目主题的技术挑战，将有助于将纳米结构材料转化为与减少污染和空气净化相关的广泛催化应用。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 Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is to address the global challenge of pollution abatement and air purification which have a profound impact on the environment, health, and economy. Hundreds of billions of dollars are spent each year on emission control activities, yet air pollution costs the global economy over five trillion of dollars annually in welfare costs and is attributed to one in every eight deaths. The design and performance of current industrial catalytic air purification technologies is insufficient to treat the growing number of airborne pollutants. Finding sustainable, cost-effective solutions to this problem, and is becoming increasingly important in view of tightening regulations. The technology we propose has a high commercialization potential due to the fact that it is cost-effective, shows excellent long-term performance and potential for scalable fabrication within an existing manufacturing framework within the United States. Further, the founders of the company are inventors of the technology and have exclusive licensing of the core IP. Significantly, our demonstration of operating temperature reductions has been well-received by industry as evidenced by findings from our customer discovery effort through programs such as NSF I-Corps.This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project addresses outstanding challenges in catalytic converters, notably technical challenges associated with cold start, durability, and high cost, which can be attributed to the use of substantial amounts of platinum group metals, and reliance on the limited reserves of these metals. Through highly controlled composition and nano-, micro-, and macro- structuration, we have previously demonstrated dramatically reduced precious metal content in a catalytic decomposition of known pollutants. The research objectives of this SBIR project are to develop a scalable deposition method of these advanced catalytic materials onto industrially relevant substrates, to promote and accelerate their integration into commercial products to tackle the growing problem of air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. The technical work will involve the synthesis of these materials and modifications to the synthetic schemes in a way that will be compatible with such large-scale deposition processes, as well as longevity, robustness, and catalytic testing. It will require building equipment for the deposition. Overcoming the technological challenges that are the subject of this SBIR Project will facilitate translation of the nanostructured materials to a broad range of catalytic applications related to pollution abatement and air purification.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.