I-Corps: Removing Oxygen for Food Storage and Transport

这个i-Corps项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是开发一种从食品储存和运输容器中去除氧气的方法，以减少产品腐败。在美国，每年有价值1600亿美元的食品被浪费在供应链的各个阶段。改善粮食储存将改善这一数字，并使环境上可持续的交通选择成为可能。拟议的技术可以在供应链的几个可能阶段实施，从农场储存、运输(卡车或轮船)、杂货店冷藏箱，以及家用个人冰箱。该项目将探索技术翻译的各种途径。这个i-Corps项目是基于激发氧与一种新材料的可逆反应的开发。这种材料的作用就像一块氧气海绵，在光照射下吸收氧气，在温暖、黑暗的条件下释放氧气。这使得氧气的消耗可以通过光来控制，而释放可以通过热来控制。该反应发生在氧气的低分压下，可以创造无氧环境。氧气可以储存在材料中，在温和的加热下释放。这种材料和工艺可以用来去除或减少太空中的氧气，创造一个厌氧环境。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势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 I-Corps project is the development of a method to remove oxygen from food storage and transport containers to decrease produce spoilage. Every year $160 billion worth of food is wasted in America at every stage of the supply chain. Improving food storage would improve this figure and enable environmentally sustainable transport options. The proposed technology may be implemented in several possible stages of the supply chain from farm storage, transportation (truck or ship), grocery store coolers, and for home use in personal refrigerators. This project will explore various paths for technology translation. This I-Corps project is based on the development of a reversible reaction of excited oxygen with a novel material. The material acts like an oxygen sponge, absorbing oxygen when irradiated with light, and releasing oxygen under warm, dark conditions. This allows the consumption of oxygen to be controlled using light, while the release can be manipulated with heat. The reaction occurs at low partial pressures of oxygen and can create oxygen-free environments. The oxygen may be stored in the material and released under gentle heating. This material and process may be used to remove or reduce oxygen from a space, creating an anerobic environment.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.