STTR Phase I: The Coupling of COVID-19 Respiratory Droplet Adsorption and Photocatalysis through Metal Organic Frameworks

这一小型企业技术转让第一阶段项目的更广泛影响/商业潜力是通过空中飞沫隔离和销毁防止SARS-CoV-2(新冠肺炎)的传播。生活在大流行后的世界意味着病毒必须在我们周围得到缓解。拟议的技术提供了一种去除和灭活病毒的方法，预计它将提供保护，防止出现病毒株和其他未来病毒的传播。拟议的技术已经被用于提高供暖、通风和空调(HVAC)系统的能效，这些系统已被证明是病毒的主要集中地。这种化学涂层可以快速应用于任何负空气压力设备，如口罩(呼吸器和外科手术)和空气净化器，使集群室内场所对居民和工人更安全。这项拟议的技术可以利用可见光来灭活病毒，提供了比紫外线(UV)灭活更低的成本和安全优势，因为紫外线对皮肤暴露是不安全的。该项目将开发一种金属-有机骨架(MOF)为基础的呼吸道微滴吸附涂层，当被激活时，将光催化破坏新冠肺炎和其他空气中的污染物。该项目建议将纳米结构钛金属有机骨架的吸水能力和光催化氧化能力结合起来，就地摧毁新冠肺炎，使室内空间更加安全。该项目将推进一种基于配位聚合物的化学，该化学可以通过分离微滴和光催化去污来使新冠肺炎失去活性。基于其高度可调的优先级和催化性能，金属有机框架(MOF)构成了捕获新冠肺炎微滴并根据其病毒含量进行处理的有效解决方案。初步测试结果表明，MOF可以光催化使新冠肺炎失活，但仍存在稳定性风险需要缓解。高价钛基MOF可以解决MOF的化学稳定性挑战，可以消除与长期稳定性、低相对湿度下微空气液滴的循环收集及其与现有供暖、通风和空调系统的集成相关的技术障碍。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。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase I project is the prevention of the spread of SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) through airborne droplet isolation and destruction. Living in a post-pandemic world means that the virus must be mitigated in our surroundings. The proposed technology offers a method for viral removal and inactivation, and it is expected to offer protection against emergent strains and spread of other future viruses. The proposed technology is already being used to improve the energy efficiency of heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems, which have been shown to be a major concentrators of the virus. The chemistry as a coating can be rapidly applied to any negative air pressure devices, such as masks (respirators and surgical), and air purifiers, making cluster indoor locations safer for inhabitants and workers. The proposed technology can inactivate viruses using visible light, offering cost and safety advantages over ultraviolet (UV) inactivation, as UV is not safe for skin exposure. This STTR project will develop a metal-organic framework (MOF)-based respiratory droplet adsorption coating, which, when activated, will photocatalytically destroy COVID-19 and other airborne contaminants. The project proposes to couple the water adsorptive capacity of nanostructured titanium metal organic frameworks with their photocatalytic oxidation capability to destroy COVID-19 in situ to make indoor spaces safer. The project will advance a coordination polymer-based chemistry which can render COVID-19 inactive through microdroplet isolation and photocatalytic decontamination. Based on their highly tunable priorities and catalytic properties, metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) constitute an effective solution to capture COVID-19 micro-droplets and treat them for their viral content. Preliminary test results have showed that that MOFs can photocatalytically render COVID-19 inactive but there are still stability risks to mitigate. The high valence titanium-based MOFs can address the chemical stability challenges of MOFs, which can eliminate the technical hurdles associated with long term stability, cyclic harvesting of micro-air droplets at low relative humidity and their integration into existing heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems.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.