EAGER: Novel Bio-inspired 3D Materials for Surface-Active Devices

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This research project involves studying a new class of materials that can significantly improve the performance of currently available devices used in the energy, environmental, and biotech sectors of the economy. In recent decades, population growth, higher life expectancy and rapid industrialization have increased needs for water, energy, food, sanitation, and health care. For instance, the United States National Intelligence Council (USNIC) estimates that by 2030, societal demand in these areas will increase by 40-50%. Many of these increased demands can be addressed by advanced sensors, catalysts, membranes, and biomaterials that can, for instance, make it easier to remove chemical pollutants from water, detect and destroy pathogens, and carry out faster chemical and biological tests with improved precision and lower cost. Nanomaterials show great potential for such game-changing applications, but their use in actual devices has been rare, since they can easily escape into the surroundings posing high risk of material loss and environmental toxicity. This research project addresses this dilemma with a novel materials architecture that combines the power and efficiency of nanomaterials with the safety, durability and reusability of conventional solids. The specific goal of the project is to investigate bioinspired three-dimensional surfaces that combine the functional advantages of nanomaterials with the structural advantages of conventional solids. Such materials can provide a novel multifunctional platform for custom-tailored catalysts, antimicrobial agents, sensors and/or bio-scaffolds. The design concept is to enrich the surface of porous solid substrates with carpet-like arrays of carbon nanotubes (CNT) that can be further customized with nanoscale catalysts, sensors and biomolecules for tailoring their interaction with surrounding fluids. This architecture mimics natural biological materials such as microvilli and capillaries, where the larger membrane supports progressively smaller specialized attachments. This approach can offer exceptionally high levels of solid-fluid interaction in very compact space. Moreover, different regions of the same substrate can concurrently provide multiple simultaneous benefits in a single filter, reactor, or bio-engineering platform. Currently available devices do not use this architecture, due to the complexities of bonding dissimilar components that create multiple unknown interfaces. This project addresses these complex issues, and explores the possibility of synthesizing such materials for solid-fluid interactions involving catalysis, signal detection and cell scaffolding through the following research tasks: (1) investigation of nano-carpets on porous solids, and their affinity for different fluids; (2) study of chemical & catalytic reactions at hierarchical surfaces; and (3) understanding biological interaction of nano-carpets with peptides and living cells. In parallel with the research, education and outreach components are being developed for undergraduates, science teachers, community leaders as well as governmental policy personnel.