NSF Convergence Accelerator Track E: Next Generation Biomaterials with Engineered Biodegradability to Enable Networked Swarm Sensing in the Ocean

OIA - 2137561 NSF融合加速器轨道E：下一代生物材料与工程生物降解能力，使网络群传感在oceanAbstract这项研究的重点是海洋垃圾管理，以促进更可持续的参与与海洋。它体现了一种融合研究方法，汇集了来自四个学术机构的微生物学家，材料科学家，工程师和海洋学家团队，与海洋仪器行业的行业合作伙伴和政府专家合作。今天，塑料是一个价值4万亿美元的产业;但生物塑料不到1%。该项目将开创一种新的方法，通过明确考虑微生物在其预期生物降解的环境中的代谢，为海洋环境设计材料。可消耗的、网络化的、自由漂移的仪器正在彻底改变海洋观测，但这些不断增长的传感器舰队带来了环境挑战，需要社会对其建造中使用的材料进行必要的转变。目前，大多数“生物降解”塑料在寒冷、黑暗的海洋条件下的生物降解能力有限，而且仅在工业堆肥设施中设计和测试。该项目将开发可持续的材料和测试标准，以准确反映海洋条件。该研究团队将通过开发延长印刷材料中活细胞活力的策略，率先将活的PHA降解海洋细菌直接嵌入塑料材料中。作为该项目的一部分开发的可现场部署的呼吸室预计将为测试海洋环境中使用的材料制定新的行业标准。在现实环境条件下，促进海洋仪器快速降解的材料将改变社会大规模部署群传感器的能力。要解决这一问题，就需要汇集不同的知识领域和方法，并需要管理海洋废弃物的利益攸关方和最终用户的参与。该研究团队将创新、测试和整合生物材料，这些材料旨在在海洋条件下快速降解。该项目将开发一套专为海洋环境设计的新型塑料材料，通过3D打印活细菌到生物聚合物聚羟基烷酸酯（PHA）中，并使用添加剂进行优化，以补充微生物代谢。第二，它将修改现有的海洋仪器，以产生一个直接测量深海环境中塑料材料呼吸的室。最后，研究小组将与最终用户合作，设计用于海洋环境的原型产品。该项目的总体目标是将可持续材料纳入海洋仪器应用。该奖项反映了NSF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。

OIA - 2137561 NSF Convergence Accelerator Track E: Next generation biomaterials with engineered biodegradability to enable networked swarm sensing in the oceanAbstractThis research focuses on marine debris management to facilitate a more sustainable engagement with the ocean. It embodies a Convergence Research approach by bringing together a team of microbiologists, materials scientists, engineers, and oceanographers from four academic institutions collaborating with industry partners from the oceanographic instrumentation sector and government experts. Today, plastics are a $4-trillion industry; but less than 1% are bioplastics. This project will pioneer a novel approach to designing materials for the marine environment by explicitly considering the metabolism of microbes in the environment in which they are expected to biodegrade. Expendable, networked, free-drifting instruments are revolutionizing ocean observation, but these growing fleets of sensors present an environmental challenge and require a necessary shift in how society thinks about the materials used in their construction. At present, most “biodegradable” plastics have limited biodegradation in cold, dark oceanic conditions and were designed and tested only in industrial composting facilities. This project will develop both sustainable materials and testing standards that accurately reflect ocean conditions. The successful development of materials designed to rapidly degrade in seawater is expected to transform multiple marine sectors, such as fisheries, and permeate wider industry applications where marine pollution by plastics is of major concern.The research team will pioneer the embedding of live PHA-degrading marine bacteria directly into plastic materials by developing strategies for extending the viability of living cells in printed materials. The field-deployable respiration chamber developed as part of this project is expected to set a new industry standard for testing materials used in the marine environment. Materials that facilitate rapid degradation of marine instrumentation under realistic environmental conditions would transform society’s ability to deploy swarm sensors at scale. Solving this problem requires the convergence of intellectually distinct fields and approaches, as well as the involvement of stakeholders that manage marine debris and end-users. The research team will innovate, test, and integrate biomaterials designed to rapidly degrade at end-of-life in oceanic conditions. The project will develop a suite of novel plastic materials purpose-built for the marine environment by 3D printing living bacteria into the biopolymer polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA), optimized with additives to supplement microbial metabolism. Second, it will modify existing marine instrumentation to produce a chamber for directly measuring the respiration of plastic materials in deep ocean environments. Finally, the research team will work with end users to prototype products designed to be deployed in the marine environment. The overarching objective of the project is to integrate sustainable materials into oceanographic instrument applications.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.