RAPID:Novel Foam formulations for decontamination of surfaces with minimum wastewater generation

这个RAPID项目的更广泛影响是促进对一种新的消毒剂成分的了解。控制传染病传播的一种常用方法是在医院、公寓、公园、机场、人行道和其他表面喷洒去污消毒剂。常用的消毒剂有漂白剂、双氧水、酚类和碘伏。在防护服表面喷洒这种溶液不会粘在防护服表面，因此必须每天多次使用才能达到去污效果。此外，这种操作可能导致溶液渗入地下。考虑到COVID-19等传染病的大流行性质，去污操作通常可能持续数月，导致长时间暴露于可能对肺部有害并刺激呼吸道的消毒剂烟雾中。拟议的项目旨在通过开发和应用泡沫消毒剂配方来克服这些问题，从而允许充分暴露。具有超强扩散力的泡沫可以穿透裂缝和缝隙，在表面粘上足够长的时间来净化。该配方将用于净化房屋、车辆、医院和机场等大面积区域的地板和窗户。为了进一步减少漂白剂等消毒剂的使用，将使用抗菌试剂作为发泡剂。这将使患有传染病的社区受益。RAPID项目的目标是制备一套创新的泡沫配方，这些配方在消毒剂和表面活性剂类型上有所不同，并使用喷雾器测试它们的起泡性和展开性。一种具有抗菌特性的生物表面活性剂表面素将被用作泡沫稳定剂。该项目将：确定空气/水界面张力作为表面活性剂浓度的函数；研究参数，包括泡沫形成速率（起泡性）和破裂速率（稳定性），以及气泡大小；确定并关联不同空气/水比下泡沫结构泡沫的存储和刚度模量值；研究配备多种输送设备，如家用和双肩包喷雾器和泡沫枪；表征在瓷砖表面形成的泡沫的随时间变化的纹理，并将其与起泡性、泡沫稳定性参数、储存和弹性模量值联系起来。泡沫完全破裂后的瓷砖表面将使用电子显微镜分析，以评估消毒剂是均匀沉积还是以斑块的形式沉积。这一评估将使用瓷砖表面的拉曼光谱映射来验证；不同表面活性剂类型的界面张力数据提供了在水相中次氯酸盐离子存在时它们在空气/水界面上的吸附密度的估计，而泡沫稳定性参数提供了它们在界面上的分子间相互作用的见解，以及不同类型表面活性剂之间控制泡沫稳定性的协同效应的可能性。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 of this RAPID project is to advance the understanding of a new disinfectant composition. A common approach to contain the spread of infectious diseases involves spraying decontaminating disinfectants onto the floors in hospitals, apartments, parks, airports, footpaths, and other surfaces. The disinfectants commonly used are bleach, hydrogen peroxide, phenols and iodophors. Sprays of such solutions on surfaces do not stick to surfaces of protective clothing and hence have to be applied multiple times a day for decontamination results. Furthermore, such operations can result in seepage of the solutions into the ground. Considering the pandemic nature of infectious diseases such as COVID-19, decontamination practices can often span for months, causing prolonged exposure to disinfectant fumes that may be harmful to the lungs and irritating for the respiratory tract. The proposed project aims to overcome these issues by developing and applying disinfectant formulations as a foam allowing sufficient exposure. A foam with super spreaders can penetrate cracks and crevices, sticking to surfaces long enough to decontaminate. The formulation will be designed for decontamination of floors and windows in houses, vehicles, hospitals, and large areas such as airports. In order to further minimize the use of disinfectants such as bleach, an antimicrobial reagent serving as the foaming agent will be used. This will benefit communities experiencing contagious diseases. The objective of this RAPID project is to prepare a set of innovative foam formulations that differ in disinfectant and surfactant type, and test them for their foamability and deployment using a sprayer. A biosurfactant surfactin that also exhibits anti-microbial properties will be used as a foam stabilizer. This project will: Determine the air/water interfacial tension as a function of surfactant concentration; study parameters, including the rates of foam formation (foamability) and breaking (stability), as well as bubble size; determine and correlate storage and rigidity modulus values for the foams with foam texture for different air/water ratios; study deployment with a variety of delivery equipment, such as household and backpack sprayer and foam lancer; characterize the time-dependent texture of foam formed on a tile surface and relate it to the foamability, the foam-stability parameters, and the storage and elastic modulus values. The tile surfaces after foam completely breaks down will be analyzed using an electron microscope to assess if disinfectant is deposited uniformly or in the form of patches. This assessment will be verified using the Raman spectroscopic mapping of the tile surface; the interfacial tension data at different ratios of surfactant types provide an estimate of their adsorption density at the air/water interface in the presence of hypochlorite ions in the aqueous phase, while the foam stability parameters provide insights into their intermolecular interactions at the interface and the possibility of synergistic effects among different types of surfactants that govern the stability of a foam.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.