SBIR Phase II: Using Metal-Organic Framework Materials to Increase Sustainability of Indoor Farming

这个小企业创新研究第二阶段项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是能够以更少的水和能源资源可持续地生产更多的食物。室内农业有可能改变我们种植和获取食物的方式，使当地来源的作物产量更高。如果能够减少温室能源和水的消耗，粮食作物可以在所有主要城市中心附近全年可持续地种植。这项研究将导致创建一个新的能源和水效率的室内气候系统，从而使室内农业环境可持续和经济可行。该小型企业创新研究第二阶段项目将推进新型金属有机框架（MOF）材料的开发，为商业和住宅空调应用提供新型紧凑，节能的冷却和制冷系统。该项目将推进一种具有前所未有的吸水能力的新型MOF材料。此外，可以使用流动合成工艺从低成本的大宗商品化学品快速合成MOF材料。使用这种材料运行的除湿器可以收集废热，以在受控环境农业或住宅舒适冷却等应用中提供最佳湿度条件。该项目的目标是扩大这种新型材料的生产规模，开发嵌入这种材料的复合结构，并将这些结构集成到商用和住宅空调设备中。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。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this This Small Business Innovation Research Phase II project is the ability to sustainably produce more food with fewer water and energy resources. Indoor agriculture has the potential to transform the way we grow and source our food, enabling locally-sourced crops at higher yields. Food crops can be grown sustainably year-round near all major urban centers, if greenhouse energy and water consumption can be reduced. This research will lead to the creation of a new class of energy- and water-efficient indoor climate systems, thereby making indoor agriculture environmentally sustainable and economically viable. This Small Business Innovation Research Phase II project will advance the development of a novel metal organic framework (MOF) material enabling a new class of compact, energy-efficient cooling and dehumidification systems for commercial and residential air conditioning applications. This project will advance a novel MOF material with unprecedented water adsorption capacity. Moreover, the MOF material may be quickly synthesized from low-cost, bulk commodity chemicals using a flow synthesis process. A dehumidifier operating with this material can harvest waste heat to provide optimal humidity conditions in applications such as controlled environment agriculture or residential comfort cooling. The goal of the proposed R&D is scale the manufacturing of this novel material, develop composite structures that embed this material, and integrate these structures into air conditioning devices for commercial and residential 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.