Excellence in Research: Optical Studies of Nanoparticles and Biomacromolecules in Complex Biopolymeric Systems

各种工程纳米颗粒合成的进展继续在各个领域开辟新的应用，包括制造新型功能纳米复合材料，用于高能材料，药物输送和生物医学。纳米颗粒进入环境引起了对生态系统不利影响的关注。该项目将研究纳米粒子和生物大分子在复杂生物聚合物基质中的相互作用和运输特性。该项目的结果将为设计切实可行的解决方案以消除纳米粒子对生态系统的不利影响提供见解。在这个项目中训练的学生将学习和解决有关纳米生物技术对环境和健康影响的挑战性问题。这些学生将有能力与纳米科学领域的下一代科学家相结合，并使劳动力多样化。该项目将结合各种基于光学的技术、分析工具和机器学习方法来确定和提高检测极限，评估表征的准确性，并阐明纳米结构在各种条件下的复杂行为，包括纳米颗粒、生物大分子和宿主生物聚合物基质。使用海藻酸盐作为模型系统，将生成来自不同光谱技术（如荧光，激光诱导吸收光谱，紫外至中红外吸收光谱和拉曼光谱）和高分辨率4-D图像（如共聚焦显微镜）的互补激光光谱，并结合拟合程序和卷积神经网络方法进行分析。这不仅可以表征纳米结构的结构和扩散特性的变化，还可以描述这些结构的各种竞争相互作用，特别是由于大分子拥挤，纳米颗粒结合和基质的渗透压。在这些努力中，并与两个机构的使命相一致，学生将在生物物理学的各个领域以及光谱、成像和计算模拟的先进技术方面接受培训。更重要的是，他们将学习和解决纳米生物技术对我们的生态系统和健康影响的挑战性问题，例如，阐明纳米颗粒和生物大分子在纳米尺度上相互作用的机制过程。这些学生将有能力与纳米科学领域的下一代科学家相结合，并使劳动力多样化。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，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。

Advances in the synthesis of diverse engineered nanoparticles continue to open new applications in various fields, including fabrication of novel functional nanocomposites for energetic materials, drug delivery, and biomedicine. Entry of nanoparticles into the environment has raised concerns about adverse effects on ecosystems. This project will investigate the interactions and transport properties of nanoparticles and biomacromolecules within complex biopolymeric matrices. The results of this project will provide insight into the requirements for designing practical solutions to eliminate the adverse effects of nanoparticles on the ecosystem. Students trained in this project will learn and address challenging questions concerning the impact of nano-biotechnology on the environment and health. These students will be well equipped to integrate with the next generation of scientists in nanoscience and diversify the workforce.This project will combine diverse optical-based techniques, analytical tools, and machine learning approaches to determine and enhance the detection limit, to assess the accuracy of characterization, and to elucidate the complex behaviors of the nanoscopic structures under various conditions, including the nanoparticles, the biomacromolecules, and the host biopolymeric matrices. Using alginate as a model system, complementary laser-based spectra from diverse spectroscopy techniques (e.g. fluorescence, laser-induced absorption spectroscopy, UV-to-Mid-infrared absorption spectroscopy, and Raman spectroscopy) and high-resolution 4-D images (e.g. confocal microscopy) will be generated and analyzed with a combination of fitting routines and a convolutional neural networks approach. This will not only characterize changes in the structural and diffusional properties of the nanoscopic structures but also delineate the various competitive interactions of these structures, especially due to macromolecular crowding, nanoparticle binding, and osmolarity of the matrix. In these endeavors and consistent with the missions of both institutions, students will be trained in diverse areas of biological physics and in advanced techniques in spectroscopy, imaging, and computational simulations. More significantly, they will learn and address challenging questions of the impact of nano-biotechnology on our ecosystem and health by, for example, elucidating the mechanistic processes of interactions of nanoparticles and biomacromolecules at the nanoscale. These students will be well equipped to integrate with the next generation of scientists in nanoscience and diversify the workforce.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.