Excellence in Research: Synthesis and Evaluation of Amino Acid-Appended Macromolecules Designed Towards Enhanced Water Purification via Lead Chelation

在建筑和工业过程中使用铅，导致水源受到广泛的重金属污染，并增加了生物铅中毒的发生，这对人类健康和发展有害。传统的修复方法包括使用吸附剂，如活性炭；然而，其长期效果尚不清楚。为了解决这一公共健康风险，该项目将合成创新、高效和生物相容性的大分子，这些大分子可以有效地封装重金属，并在从水环境中提取铅污染的水时进行净化。研究者的长期目标是在Prairie View A&amp；M大学建立一个可行且具有竞争力的聚合物研究项目。通过本课程，研究生和本科生将学习如何在聚合物化学领域进行应用和假设驱动的研究。为了满足项目的总体目标，将追求以下目标：(1)了解聚合物结构和分支如何影响金属螯合亲和力；(2)探讨溶解度参数对纳米材料螯合效率的影响；3)让本科生和研究生参与高影响力和密集的聚合物化学研究环境。德克萨斯农工大学、杜兰大学和纽约州立大学石溪分校的合作者将帮助对纳米材料进行专门表征，扩大其潜在的变革性影响。本项目的总体目标是研究氨基酸功能化大分子在隔离铅离子以促进水净化方面的有效性。具有线性和分支结构的生物相容性高分子材料将被生成，并具有足够的功能，以全面探索金属螯合活性背后的结构-性能关系。为了使铅离子充分络合，通过巯基炔的添加，超支化和枝状聚酯和线状聚碳酸酯将配备n-乙酰半胱氨酸，以产生许多邻近的硫醚结合袋，覆盖聚合物表面或主链。将获得结合能力的新见解，并将生产邻硫醚和水溶性聚合物。这些材料的功效将为今后预防和处理铅污染的工作提供数据。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 use of lead in construction and industrial processes has contributed to widespread heavy metal contamination of water sources and increased occurrences of biological lead intoxication, which is detrimental to human health and development. Conventional remediation approaches include the use of adsorbents such as activated charcoal; however, the long-term effectiveness remains unknown. To address this public health risk, this project will synthesize innovative, efficient, and biocompatible macromolecules that effectively encapsulate the heavy metal and purify lead-contaminated water upon extraction from aqueous environments. The investigator's long-term goal is to build a viable and competitive polymer research program at Prairie View A&M University. Through this program, graduate and undergraduate students will learn how to conduct application- and hypothesis-driven investigations in the polymer chemistry field. The following objectives will be pursued to satisfy the overall goals of the project: (1) understand how polymer architecture and branching impact metal chelating affinity; (2) explore how solubility parameters affect the chelation efficiency of the nanomaterials; and 3) engage undergraduate and graduate students in high-impact and intensive polymer chemistry research environments. Collaborators at Texas A&M University, Tulane University, and the State University of New York at Stony Brook will aid in specialized characterization of the nanomaterials, extending the potential for transformative impact.The overarching goal of this project is to investigate the effectiveness of amino acid-functionalized macromolecules towards sequestering lead ions to promote water purification. Biocompatible, polymeric materials with both linear and branched architectures will be generated with adequate functionality to comprehensively probe the structure-property relationship underlying metal-chelating activity. To enable sufficient complexation of lead ions, hyperbranched and dendrimeric polyesters and linear polycarbonates will be outfitted with n-acetylcysteine via thiol-yne click addition to generate numerous vicinal thioether binding pockets covering the polymer surface or backbone. Novel insights into binding capability will be obtained, and vicinal thioethers and water-soluble polymers will be produced. The efficacy of the materials will provide data that can inform future efforts to prevent and treat lead contamination.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.