PFI:AIR-TT: Novel Materials Scale-Up and Prototype Development for Air Quality Control in Confined Spaces

这个PFI: AIR技术翻译项目的重点是用于控制密闭空间空气质量的多孔材料的商业化。这种应用很重要，因为它可以去除由于人类在封闭空间（如潜艇、太空舱（国际空间站）和商业客机）呼吸而积聚在空气中的二氧化碳。必须减轻这些环境中二氧化碳的积聚，以避免出现认知障碍、嗜睡、心率加快、头晕和呼吸短促等健康问题。在这项工作中要利用的主要创新是可控和可调的碳化物衍生碳（cdc）的合成。人们发现这些多孔材料就像高效的“分子海绵”，能够“吸收”有毒化学物质，如氨、甲醛和其他化学制剂。该材料还适用于各种化学处理，如酸/碱洗涤和功能化，这扩展了它们对各种目标分离的适用性。cdc在空气净化和气体分离领域具有巨大影响的潜力，但在材料的放大和设备级集成方面存在重大知识缺口，这对于这些材料的商业化至关重要。该项目的研究人员将开发必要的方法，将碳化物衍生碳的合成规模扩大到20克规模。目前，除了简单的实验室规模之外，生产cdc的程序尚不清楚，预计将对cdc在工业中的使用产生重大影响。此外，该项目将重点开发一个原型测试平台，在那里可以展示概念验证吸附循环的性能。最终，该项目将提供合成方法和性能数据，以创建能够将密闭空间内的二氧化碳浓度控制在指定水平（1000ppm）的吸附装置。这项工作的预期产出将分为三大类：(i)材料放大程序；（ii）原型/试验台的设计及建造；（iii）在实际条件下的二氧化碳去除性能演示。参与该项目的人员，包括一名化学工程本科生和博士后，将与项目合作伙伴NASA约翰逊航天中心和VentureLab的创业专家进行交流，培训客户发现和商业发展方法。该培训将为学生和博士后提供独特的体验，包括发现客户的实践和接触到更具应用性的快节奏研究。该项目与美国宇航局约翰逊航天中心合作，对原型机进行测试。这样的设备级测试对于实验室规模来说太大了，但是对于更大的工业测试来说又太小了。因此，NASA的合作伙伴将提供跨越性能差距的关键桥梁，将这一创新从实验室转移到商业规模。他们将在项目结束时提供真实的性能数据，以支持该设备从研究发现到商业现实的持续发展。

This PFI: AIR Technology Translation project focuses on the commercialization of porous materials for the control of air quality in confined spaces. This application is important because it allows the removal of carbon dioxide as it builds up in the air due to human respiration in enclosed spaces such as submarines, space cabins (International Space Station), and commercial airliners. The build-up of CO2 in these environments must be mitigated to avoid health issues such as cognitive impairment, drowsiness, increased heart rate, dizziness, and shortness of breath. The principle innovation to be exploited in this work is the controlled and tunable synthesis of carbide-derived carbons (CDCs). These porous materials have been found to act as efficient "molecular sponges", capable of "soaking up" toxic chemicals such as ammonia, formaldehyde, and other chemical agents. The materials are also amenable to various chemical treatments such as acid/base washes and functionalization, which extends their applicability to a variety of target separations. CDCs have the potential for high impact in the air purification and gas separations fields, but there are major knowledge gaps in scale-up of the materials and integration at the device level, which are both essential for commercializing these materials. The researchers in this project will develop the methods necessary to scale-up the synthesis of carbide-derived carbons to the 20-gram scale. The procedures for producing CDCs beyond simple lab scale are currently unknown and are expected to have a significant impact on the use of CDCs in industry. Further, the project will focus on the development of a prototype test bed, where the performance of a proof-of-concept adsorption cycle can be demonstrated. Ultimately, the project will provide the synthesis means and performance data to create an adsorption unit capable of controlling CO2 concentrations in confined spaces to specified levels ( 1000ppm). The expected output of this work will fall into three major categories: (i) materials scale-up procedures; (ii) prototype/test bed design and construction; (iii) demonstration of CO2 removal performance under realistic conditions. The personnel involved in this project, including a chemical engineering undergraduate student and postdoctoral fellow, will interface with project partners NASA Johnson Space Center and experts in entrepreneurship at VentureLab for training in customer discovery and business development methods. This training will provide the student and postdoc with a unique experience that includes customer discovery practices and exposure to fast-paced research of a more applied nature. The project engages NASA Johnson Space Center for testing of the prototype. Such device-level testing is too large for lab scale, but still too small to adapt for larger industry testing. Thus, the NASA partners will provide a critical bridge across the performance gap to move this innovation from the lab to commercial scale. They will provide realistic performance data by project end to support the continued development of the device from research discovery toward commercial reality.