Metal-organic frameworks for the delivery of biocompatible molecules

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Pest insect species cause millions of pounds worth of damage every year, especially in developing parts of the world. These species are often tackled by indiscriminate use of pesticides, much of which is inefficient, with the pesticide washed away before it can be used. Not only is this wasteful, but it leads to pollution and environmental harm. The ability to target pesticides more efficiently would decrease their overall use and increase their efficiency, both of which would have environmental and economical benefits. Similarly, the potential of increasing the lifetime of insect repellents will increase their efficiency and benefit disease control.We can address this issue with a study of functionalised porous material for the delivery of biocompatible molecules. The porous material in questions are metal-organic frameworks. Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are a class of porous material, and they are currently attracting considerable attention for applications in gas storage, separations and catalysis. MOFs are constructed from the linking together of metal aggregates into two- and three-dimensional extended structures using bridging organic ligands.Our focus is to take advantage of the properties of MOFs to the storage and controlled release of biologically important molecules. The target biomolecules are insect attractants (and broadly speaking semiochemcials), pesticides and repellents. This project has three areas of focus. Firstly experimentally obtain data on uptake and release of target biomolecules, including synthesis of materials, development of new better performing materials. Secondly model the behaviour of the biomolecules within the porous materials with computational methods, based on experimentally obtained results. Finally, to develop a material scoping technique to quickly access a materials performance, this is a novel application of flow NMR. With the overall aim of providing a novel solution to pest control.