EFRI E3P: Massive Microplastics Remediation using Novel Microcleaners and Microbiome Processing Accelerated by Artificial Intelligence

清除遍布地球海洋和水道的聚合物微粒(微塑料)，并将其转化为增值产品，是一项尚未解决的社会挑战。问题的严重程度阻碍了传统化学工艺技术的使用。为了应对这一挑战，这个新兴前沿研究与创新(EFRI)团队将为旨在解决微塑料污染的新技术平台奠定知识基础。该平台包括使用自动微清洁器从水体中高效地收集微塑料，这些微清洁器可以在复杂的环境中导航，并选择性地捕获/去除分散的微塑料颗粒。然后，使用工程微生物将回收的微塑料加工成简单而多功能的化学积木，这些化学积木可以回收利用，制成增值产品。该项目的一个关键目标是实施人工智能方法，以达到必要的可伸缩性和循环性，使解构的微塑料产品能够用于进一步的微塑料捕获。为实现这些目标而组建的小组将为培训精通发展循环经济挑战的下一代科学家和工程师创造一个杰出的跨学科环境。将为来自不同背景和代表性不足的研究生提供以可持续发展为中心的新的教育机会。公众推广工作，包括开发受研究启发的便携式实验工具包、互动游戏和在线地图，将通过与博物馆的教育项目合作来传播。该项目将推进与活性胶体和软物质系统、分子识别过程的计算设计、生物催化剂的定向进化以及使用人工智能的过程强化有关的基础知识的前沿，所有这些都是在为海洋和淡水中的大量微塑料污染开发创新技术解决方案的背景下进行的。EFRI团队成员将整合这些进展，为循环和可扩展的技术平台提供智力基础，在该平台中，捕获的微塑料被加工成可用于捕获更多微塑料或转化为其他增值产品的解构产品。将要应对的特别智力挑战包括：(1)设计下一代具有纤维冠状结构和/或在水环境中自动运动的“活性”粒子微清洁剂，从而有效地捕获微塑料；(2)发现能够有效分解微塑料的遗传路径，并在快速生长的海洋细菌中实施；(3)计算设计识别特定聚合物表面的多肽，用于捕获和传感微塑料；(4)开发用于微塑料的液晶型传感器和深度学习算法，将用于加强总体捕获和解构过程。该项目还将为培训下一代工程师提供一个出色的跨学科环境。该团队不断扩大的参与计划致力于向来自不同背景和代表性不足的K-16和研究生提供以可持续发展为中心的跨学科教育和研究机会。受研究启发的便携式实验工具包、互动游戏和在线地图将通过与公共教育项目的合作伙伴关系来开发和传播。因此，该项目不仅将引入微塑料的修复技术，还将培训一批不同的工程队伍，以解决重大的工程挑战，如“循环塑料经济”。这个项目得到了工程局和生物科学局的支持。这个奖项反映了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 removal of the polymeric microparticles (microplastics) that pervade the Earth’s oceans and waterways, and their conversion to value-added products, is an unresolved societal challenge. The scale of the problem prevents use of conventional chemical process technologies. To address this challenge, this Emerging Frontiers in Research and Innovation (EFRI) team will establish the intellectual foundations of a new technology platform aimed at addressing microplastics pollution. The platform includes efficient collection of microplastics from water bodies using self-propelled microcleaners that navigate complex environments and selectively capture/remove dispersed microplastic particles. The scavenged microplastics are then processed, using engineered microorganisms, into simple and versatile chemical building blocks that can be recycled into value-added products. A key goal of the project is to implement artificial intelligence methods to achieve the level of scalability and circularity necessary to enable the deconstructed microplastics products to be used for further microplastics capture. The team assembled to address these goals will create an outstanding interdisciplinary environment for training the next generation of scientists and engineers versed in the challenges of developing a circular economy. New educational opportunities centered on sustainability for K-16 and graduate students from diverse and underrepresented backgrounds will be offered. Public outreach efforts, which include development of research-inspired portable experimental kits, interactive games, and online maps, are to be disseminated by partnering with educational programs at museums. This project will advance the frontiers of fundamental knowledge related to active colloidal and soft matter systems, computational design of molecular recognition processes, directed evolution of biocatalysts, and process intensification using artificial intelligence, all in the context of developing innovative technological solutions to the massive problem of microplastics pollution in marine and freshwaters. EFRI team members will integrate these advances to provide the intellectual foundations of a circular and scalable technology platform in which captured microplastics are processed into deconstructed products that can be used for the capture of additional microplastics or converted into other value-added products. Specific intellectual challenges to be addressed include (i) the design of next-generation "active" particle microcleaners that have fibrillar coronas and/or move autonomously in aqueous environments thus providing efficient capture of microplastics, (ii) the discovery of genetic pathways enabling efficient depolymerization of microplastics and their implementation in rapidly-growing marine bacteria, (iii) the computational design of peptides that recognize specific polymeric surfaces for capture and sensing of microplastics and (iv) the development of liquid crystal-based sensors for microplastics and deep-learning algorithms that will be used to intensify the overall capture and deconstruction processes. This project will also provide an outstanding interdisciplinary environment for training the next generation of engineers. The team’s broadening participation plan is committed to providing interdisciplinary education and research opportunities centered on sustainability to K-16 and graduate students from diverse and underrepresented backgrounds. Research-inspired portable experimental kits, interactive games, and online maps will be developed and disseminated through partnerships with public educational programs. Thus, this project will not only introduce technologies for remediation of microplastics but will also train a diverse engineering cohort to solve grand engineering challenges, such as the "circular plastics economy." This project is supported by the Directorate for Engineering and the Directorate for Biological Sciences.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.