RAPID: Antiviral Functionalized Membrane Mask and Nanostructured Materials for Corona Virus Capture and Deactivation

当前的冠状病毒大流行造成了严重的社会健康问题，导致地球仪出现重大经济问题。这种新型冠状病毒颗粒（千分之一毫米）被棒状的“S蛋白”刺状物所覆盖，这使其具有冠状或冠状外观。这些蛋白质刺突使病毒一旦进入体内就容易进入宿主细胞，导致高度传染性和容易传播的疾病。该项目将开发能够使这些刺突蛋白失活的分层膜基材料。在含有冠状病毒液滴的潮湿空气中，开发的功能化膜将能够附着在冠状病毒的蛋白质刺突上并解除病毒的武装。此外，薄膜结构应导致高度透气的面罩。该项目将导致开发先进的屏障装置（如口罩），能够基于电离捕获和灭活冠状病毒类型的活性颗粒。先进材料与医学/生物科学之间的科学整合将产生巨大的社会影响。RAPID的努力还将加强与行业的互动，将功能化膜和病毒识别技术应用于医疗领域和工业制造领域，其中空气传播的病毒或其他纳米颗粒存在潜在的健康危害。具有不同背景的学生将接触到涉及化学/环境工程，生物化学和电气工程的多学科研究。 该项目由化学、生物工程、环境和运输系统（CBET）部门和刺激竞争研究的既定计划（EPSCoR）共同资助。该RAPID项目将涉及开发带有酶和/或抗体的功能化、开放结构和高度透气的膜。这将允许扩散和冲击过滤机制的功效和安全性以及PPE的后续失活参数的显著改善。这个创新的RAPID项目将导致新材料的开发，这些新材料将易于适应的病毒切割和识别材料整合到现有的纤维素和其他膜聚合物薄膜上，这些薄膜易于扩展。整个项目将涉及表面上的酶/抗体附着，以及使用冠状病毒中发现的刺突糖蛋白功能化的合成和等离子体气溶胶纳米颗粒进行材料评估。这种新的方法包括用于维持酶活性的水合作用的手段。等离子体粒子将作为“智能”标签，以确定材料中的粒子位置和酶-蛋白质相互作用。对功能化膜、病毒颗粒定量方法和新型病毒类似物的综合研究将推进抗病毒屏障材料的最新技术水平，同时加深对表面上病毒-酶-抗体相互作用的基本理解。 RAPID的努力还将加强与行业的额外互动，将功能化膜和病毒识别技术应用于医疗领域和工业制造领域，其中空气传播的病毒或其他纳米颗粒存在潜在的健康危害。具有多元化背景的学生将接触涉及化学/环境工程、生物化学和电气工程的多学科研究。 该项目由化学、生物工程、环境和运输系统（CBET）部门和刺激竞争研究的既定计划（EPSCoR）共同资助。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 current coronavirus pandemic has created a severe societal health issue, resulting in significant economic problems across the globe. The novel coronavirus particles (ten thousandths of a millimeter) are covered in club-shaped “S-protein” spikes, which give it its crown-like, or coronal, appearance. These protein spikes allow the virus to readily enter host cells once in the body, resulting in a highly infectious and readily transmissible disease. This project will develop layered membrane-based materials that are capable of deactivating these spike proteins. With humid air containing corona virus droplets, the developed functionalized membranes will enable attachment to the protein spikes of the coronavirus and disarm the virus. In addition, the thin membrane architecture should result in a highly breathable mask. This project will result in the development of advanced barrier devices (such as, face masks) capable of recognition-based capturing and deactivating coronavirus-type active particles. The integration of science between advanced materials and medical/biological sciences will have immense societal impact. This RAPID effort will also enhance interactions with industries for bringing the application of functionalized membrane and virus recognition technology to the medical field and industrial manufacturing sector where airborne virus or other nanoparticles present a potential health hazard. Students with diverse background will be exposed to multidisciplinary research involving chemical/environmental engineering, biological chemistry, and electrical engineering. This project is jointly funded by the Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental and Transport Systems (CBET) Division and the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR).This RAPID project will involve the development of functionalized, open structured and highly breathable membranes with attached enzymes and/or antibodies. This will allow for a significant improvement in the efficacy and safety of the diffusion and impact filtration mechanisms and subsequent deactivation parameters for PPE. This innovative RAPID project will result in the development of new materials which incorporate integration of easily adaptable virus cleavage and recognition materials on existing cellulosic and other membrane polymer films which are easily scalable. The overall project will involve enzyme/antibody attachment on surfaces, and material evaluation using synthetic and plasmonic aerosol nanoparticles functionalized with spike glycoprotein found in corona virus. This novel approach includes means for maintaining hydration for enzyme activity. The plasmonic particles will act as “smart” labels to determine both particle location in the material and enzyme-protein interactions. The integrated research on functionalized membranes, virus particle quantification approaches, and novel virus analogs will advance the state of the art in anti-viral barrier materials while deepening fundamental understanding of virus-enzyme-antibody interactions on surfaces. This RAPID effort will also enhance additional interactions with industries for bringing the application of functionalized membrane and virus recognition technology to the medical field and industrial manufacturing sector where airborne virus or other nanoparticles present a potential health hazard. Students with diversified background will be exposed to multidisciplinary research involving chemical/environmental engineering, biological chemistry, and electrical engineering. This project is jointly funded by the Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental and Transport Systems (CBET) Division and the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR).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.