Convergence: RAISE: Auto-regulatory Scaffolds for Directed Evolution of Non-living Functional Materials

该奖项支持一种在现实条件下识别和实现新功能材料的新方法。该方法是基于自动调节支架宿主的非生物材料的定向进化。这种方法是受生物启发的。它模仿了在生物中观察到的方法。这项研究涉及通过设计开发一个集合成、筛选和反馈于一体的平台，并为材料发现提供一条实用的途径。这一策略克服了仅通过计算机模拟来筛选材料的局限性。该项目基于不同研究领域的融合，如组织工程、系统生物学、可伸缩纳米制造和机器学习。新材料的发现带来了新的功能，导致了新的设备和系统，从而产生了新的产品，从而造福了社会和经济，增强了国家的繁荣和安全。该项目展示了材料发现和发明的范式转变。教育计划包括培训研究生和博士后在材料筛选和发现、自动调节支架的设计和实现以及机器学习方面的融合方法。外展计划是通过公开讲座进行传播，将研究成果整合到新的本科课程中，以及出版结合不同领域研究成果的观点。该项目的方法是通过传感器、监管机构以及已知和未知材料的自动监管互动来筛选材料。这些组件位于支架上，支架是受组织工程学启发的结构，其尺寸便于开发的制造和合成工具，并且可以适应包括水凝胶、聚合物、纳米材料和生物材料在内的广泛的节点材料。这项研究的自动调节方面涉及湿度和光热能源等。自动调节过程基于干扰效应、热膨胀、化学反应以及细胞响应和运动，该项目为这些过程开发了理论和模型。进化平台的一个好处是，它与看似不相容的材料组合无缝对接，例如水凝胶和半导体纳米材料，或者生物细胞和无机材料。材料筛选与用于预测新材料的机器学习方法相结合，可以扩展到其他用户定义的结果。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。

This award supports a new approach to identify and realize new functional materials under realistic conditions. The method is directed evolution of non-living materials based on auto-regulatory scaffold hosts. The method is bio-inspired. It mimics the approach observed in living things. The research involves developing a platform which incorporates synthesis, screening and feedback, by design, and offers a practical pathway to materials discovery. This strategy overcomes the limitations of screening materials via computer simulations only. The project builds on the convergence of different research areas such as tissue engineering, systems biology, scalable nanomanufacturing and machine learning. The discovery of new materials leads to new functionalities, which leads to new devices and systems, which leads to new products, which benefits society and economy and enhances the nation's prosperity and security. The project demonstrates a paradigm shift in materials discovery and invention. Education plans involve training graduate students and postdocs in convergence approaches to materials screening and discovery, design and realization of auto-regulatory scaffolds and machine learning. Outreach plans are to develop programs such as dissemination through public lectures, integration of research results into new undergraduate courses, and publication of perspectives that combine convergence of research from different fields.The project's approach is to screen materials through the auto-regulatory interaction of sensors, regulators and known and unknown materials. These components are located on scaffolds, which are tissue engineering-inspired constructs, whose dimensions are convenient for the developed fabrication and synthesis tools and which may be adapted to a wide range of node materials that include hydrogels, polymers, nanomaterials, and biomaterials. The auto-regulatory aspects of the research involve humidity and photothermal energy sources, among others. The auto-regulatory processes are based on interference effects, thermal expansion, chemical reactions, and cellular response and motion for which the project develops theory and modeling. One benefit of the evolutionary platform is that it interfaces seamlessly with seemingly incompatible combinations of materials such as hydrogels and semiconducting nanomaterials or biological cells and inorganic materials. Materials screening is coupled with machine learning methods for prediction of new materials, which can be extended to other user-defined outcomes.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.