SBIR Phase I: Large Scale Synthesis of Hollow Metal Nanospheres: Conversion of Batch Synthesis to Continuous Flow

SBIR 第一阶段：空心金属纳米球的大规模合成：间歇合成向连续流动的转化

• 批准号: 1940608
• 负责人: Sarah Lindley
• 金额: $ 22.5万
• 依托单位: CORELESS TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2019
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2019-10-15 至 2021-03-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1940608&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: SBIR; Phase; Large; Scale; Synthesis

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is rooted in the development of a large-scale synthesis for the manufacture of highly uniform hollow metal nanospheres for use by the military in potentially contaminated zones of operation, in rural settings with limited access to healthcare laboratories, or in the agricultural field for faster and more affordable detection of lower levels of food-based toxins and pathogens. Furthermore, establishing a source of these next-generation metal nanoparticles at commercially relevant levels of quality and quantity with consistent and predictable performance would pave the way for their expansion into other industries that could also benefit from their advantages, such as photocatalysis, water purification, and photomedicine.This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will scale-up the production of hollow metal nanoparticles from the existing small-batch syntheses to a large-scale continuous flow process, with strict standards for the control of their size, shape, and optical response. Large-scale synthesis of highly uniform hollow metal nanospheres with controllable size has not been achieved to date, hampering the use and study of these advanced materials. A high-quality, high-volume production method will position hollow metal nanospheres for rapid commercial adoption in applications where they markedly outperform their solid counterparts, such as in color reporting for lateral flow assays (LFAs), where hollow gold nanospheres can offer a 10-fold improvement in assay sensitivity. The primary objective of the proposed work is to determine the parameters necessary for a high-quality, high-throughput synthesis based on continuous flow, including reactor materials, chamber dimensions, precursor concentrations, flow rates, and reaction times. The major technical hurdle lies in the identification (within a very large parameter space) of suitable conditions for a successful and controlled synthesis; accordingly, a major component of this project is in-depth analysis and characterization of synthesized nanoparticles by optical spectroscopy and electron microscopy. Characterization results will be used to inform iterative reactor improvements. The resulting high throughput reactor will both advance the state of the art of nanomaterial synthesis and enable new research by creating a consistent supply of commercially available hollow nanoparticles with reproducible physical 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.

这个小企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力植根于大规模合成的发展，用于制造高度均匀的中空金属纳米球，供军队在潜在污染的行动区使用，在农村环境中，医疗保健实验室的使用有限，或在农业领域更快和更经济地检测较低水平的食物毒素和病原体。此外，以商业上相关的质量和数量水平建立这些具有一致和可预测性能的下一代金属纳米颗粒的来源，将为其扩展到其他行业铺平道路，这些行业也可以受益于其优势，例如清洁，水净化，这个小企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目将从现有的小规模生产中扩大空心金属纳米颗粒的生产，批量合成是一个大规模的连续流动过程，具有严格的标准来控制它们的尺寸，形状和光学响应。迄今为止，尚未实现尺寸可控的高度均匀的中空金属纳米球的大规模合成，阻碍了这些先进材料的使用和研究。一种高质量、大批量的生产方法将使中空金属纳米球在其性能明显优于固体纳米球的应用中得到快速的商业应用，例如在侧流测定（LFA）的颜色报告中，中空金纳米球可以提供10倍的测定灵敏度提高。 所提出的工作的主要目标是确定所需的高品质，高通量的合成基于连续流，包括反应器材料，腔室尺寸，前体浓度，流速和反应时间的参数。主要的技术障碍在于识别（在一个非常大的参数空间）的合适的条件，成功和控制合成;因此，该项目的一个主要组成部分是通过光学光谱和电子显微镜合成纳米粒子的深入分析和表征。表征结果将用于为迭代反应器改进提供信息。由此产生的高通量反应器将推进纳米材料合成的最新技术水平，并通过创造具有可再生物理特性的商业可用中空纳米颗粒的持续供应来实现新的研究。该奖项反映了NSF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。