I-Corps: Water filtration systems that integrate organic antibacterial membranes

这个I-Corps项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是开发碳纳米颗粒膜来处理水以去除细菌，将其转化为饮用水。20多亿人生活在没有适当水卫生设施的环境中，对人类健康构成重大威胁。腹泻病主要由卫生条件差和水污染引起，是世界各地五岁以下儿童和弱势群体死亡的主要原因。确保饮用水无病原体的常用方法是氯消毒。 氯是一种有毒化学品，具有高度腐蚀性，对人体健康有负面影响。解决水消毒的一种方法是膜过滤。该项目探索了新型膜的翻译来处理水，重点是去除细菌。拟议的膜是商业膜的修改，使他们更有效，更耐用，比那些在市场上。这个I-Corps项目推进基于碳纳米颗粒（UDD）的新型膜的翻译，它可以显着降低粪便Col/cm 3浓度在污染的水。 根据UDD浓度，在UDD处理的水板中观察到94%-97%的死亡率。未处理和UDD处理样品的单向Anova分析显示，根据UDD浓度，细菌显著减少，置信区间为95%。 此外，当将UDD掺入市售水过滤膜时，结果显示，当进行T检验分析时，市售和改性膜之间的粪便细菌浓度存在显著差异，从而增强了其杀菌性能。本研究为UDD作为一种新型的水处理消毒材料奠定了基础。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 I-Corps project is the development of membranes with carbon nanoparticles to treat water for the removal of bacteria, converting it into drinking water. Well over two billion people live without adequate water sanitation, posing a major threat to human health. Diarrheal disease, which is mainly caused by poor sanitation and contaminated water, is a leading cause of death in children under five years old and vulnerable populations around the world. The common method used to ensure pathogen-free drinking water is chlorine disinfection. Chlorine is a toxic chemical, is highly corrosive and has a negative impact on human health. One way to address water disinfection is membrane filtration. This project explores translation of novel membranes to treat water, focusing on the removal of bacteria. The proposed membranes are a modification of commercial membranes to make them more efficient, resistant and with greater durability than those available in the market.This I-Corps project advances translation of novel membranes based on carbon nanoparticles (UDD), which can significantly reduce fecal Col/cm3 concentration in polluted water. A death rate between 94%-97% was observed in UDD-treated water plates depending on UDD concentration. One-way Anova analyses of untreated and UDD treated samples showed a significant bacteria reduction depending on UDD concentration with a 95% confidence interval. Moreover, when UDD was incorporated to commercially available water filtration membranes, results showed a significant difference in fecal bacteria concentration between commercial and modified membranes when T-test analysis were performed thereby enhancing its bactericidal properties. This research paves the way for the use of UDD as a new disinfection material for water treatment. The improvement of the mechanical and bacteriological properties of the membranes used for reverse osmosis potentially lowers maintenance costs.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.