EAGER: New superdiffusive pastes from self-motile active particles with extreme penetration capabilities enabling breakthrough biomedical technologies

这个急切的项目将寻求证明新的高风险、高回报、跨学科的想法在自推进活性粒子领域的可行性。这些新类别的粒子可以将其内部化学能或来自外部场的能量转化为运动。这种可移动的颗粒具有非常不寻常的性质，可以形成非常高效率和根本改进性能的新生物医学产品的基础。然而，目前的活性粒子类型很复杂，或者需要特殊的介质来推进。这个项目将探索新类型的活性粒子，这种粒子将通过简单的渗透效应自我推进，同时部分粒子溶解在介质中。一种由这种颗粒组成的新系统将具有非同寻常的特性，当可移动的颗粒在孔隙网络中移动时，它能够迅速渗透到任何具有相互连接的孔隙的介质中，注入任何缝隙、孔隙和空洞。该系统可用于在具有挑战性的情况下提供化合物。例如，一种装有消毒剂的超扩散糊剂将能够穿透复杂的牙齿内通道网络并杀死隐藏在该网络中的微生物。这项急切的项目将探索新的粒子自我推进的物理原理，而不需要外部能源或特殊介质，并将通过构建一种新型的悬浮液来应用这些原理以超扩散糊剂的形式。超扩散浆料的引入可能会引发新的基础研究领域，因为在这种新的活性粒子系统中将出现丰富多样的质量传输效应。最具探索性和跨学科的元素将是超扩散糊剂在生物医学系统中的应用。具体地说，该项目将寻求证明超扩散糊剂的高渗透能力可以导致未来用于开放牙齿、组织和伤口消毒的变革性产品。这种新型牙膏的开发将与经验丰富的牙科研究人员合作完成。该项目的更广泛影响包括为新出现的活性材料领域的不同工程学学生提供培训场所。这些学生将掌握多学科的主题，从化学工程到新活性材料的设计，再到它们的翻译到生物医学应用。它还将有助于研究团队不断进行的活动，最大限度地增加本科生和研究生研究人员的多样性，并为实践外展演示准备诱人的材料。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。

This EAGER project will seek to prove the feasibility of new high-risk, high-reward, interdisciplinary ideas in the field of self-propelling active particles. These new classes of particles can convert their internal chemical energy, or energy from external fields, into motion. The motile particles have highly unusual properties and can form the basis of new biomedical products with very high efficiency and radically improved performance. However, the present types of active particles are complicated or require a special medium for propulsion. This project will explore new types of active particles, which will propel themselves by simple osmotic effects, while a portion of the particles dissolve in the medium. A new system made of such particles called a “superdiffusive paste” will have extraordinary properties in being able to rapidly permeate any medium with interconnected pores, infusing any crevice, pore, and cavity, as the motile particles move through the pore network. This system could be used to deliver compounds in challenging situations. For example, a superdiffusive paste loaded with disinfectant will be able to penetrate the complex inner channel network of teeth and kill microbes concealed within this network.This EAGER project will explore new physical principles for particle self-propulsion without an external source of energy or special media and will apply these principles by constructing a new type of suspension in the form of a superdiffusive paste. The introduction of the superdiffusive paste could spark new areas of fundamental research due to the rich variety of mass-transport effects that will emerge in such novel active particle systems. The most exploratory and interdisciplinary element will be the application of the superdiffusive paste in biomedical systems. Specifically, the project will seek to demonstrate that the high permeation capability of the superdiffusive paste can lead to future transformative products for disinfection of open teeth, tissues, and wounds. The development of the novel paste will be done in collaboration with experienced dental investigators. The broader impacts of the project include providing training ground for a new diverse group of engineering students in the emerging areas of active materials. These students will master multidisciplinary topics ranging from chemical engineering, to design of new active materials, to their translation to biomedical use. It will also contribute to the research team's ongoing activity in maximizing undergraduate and graduate researcher diversity and preparing enticing materials for hands-on outreach demonstrations.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.