NSF Convergence Accelerator Track E: Next Generation Biomaterials with Engineered Biodegradability to Enable Networked Swarm Sensing in the Ocean

美国国家科学基金会（NSF）融合加速器专场E：具有工程生物降解性的新一代生物材料，实现海洋网络群传感摘要本研究的重点是海洋垃圾管理，以促进与海洋的更可持续的接触。它体现了一种融合研究方法，汇集了来自四个学术机构的微生物学家、材料科学家、工程师和海洋学家团队，与海洋仪器部门的行业合作伙伴和政府专家合作。今天，塑料是一个价值4万亿美元的产业；但只有不到1%是生物塑料。该项目将开拓一种新的方法，通过明确考虑环境中微生物的新陈代谢，为海洋环境设计材料，并期望在其中进行生物降解。可消耗的、联网的、自由漂流的仪器正在彻底改变海洋观测，但这些不断增长的传感器船队带来了环境挑战，需要社会对其建造材料的看法进行必要的转变。目前，大多数“可生物降解”塑料在寒冷、黑暗的海洋条件下的生物降解能力有限，而且只在工业堆肥设施中进行了设计和测试。该项目将开发能够准确反映海洋状况的可持续材料和测试标准。设计用于在海水中迅速降解的材料的成功开发预计将改变多个海洋部门，如渔业，并渗透到更广泛的工业应用中，其中塑料污染是主要关注的海洋污染。研究小组将通过开发延长印刷材料中活细胞生存能力的策略，率先将降解pha的活海洋细菌直接嵌入塑料材料中。作为该项目的一部分开发的现场可部署呼吸室预计将为海洋环境中使用的材料测试制定新的行业标准。在现实环境条件下，促进海洋仪器快速降解的材料将改变社会大规模部署群体传感器的能力。要解决这一问题，需要融合不同的领域和方法，以及管理海洋垃圾的利益攸关方和最终用户的参与。研究小组将创新、测试和整合设计用于在海洋条件下快速降解的生物材料。该项目将开发一套专门用于海洋环境的新型塑料材料，通过3D打印将活细菌打印到生物聚合物聚羟基烷酸酯（PHA）中，并用添加剂进行优化，以补充微生物代谢。其次，它将改进现有的海洋仪器，生产一个直接测量深海环境中塑料材料呼吸的腔室。最后，研究团队将与最终用户合作，设计用于海洋环境的原型产品。该项目的总体目标是将可持续材料整合到海洋仪器应用中。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。

OIA - 2137561 NSF Convergence Accelerator Track E: Next generation biomaterials with engineered biodegradability to enable networked swarm sensing in the oceanAbstractThis research focuses on marine debris management to facilitate a more sustainable engagement with the ocean. It embodies a Convergence Research approach by bringing together a team of microbiologists, materials scientists, engineers, and oceanographers from four academic institutions collaborating with industry partners from the oceanographic instrumentation sector and government experts. Today, plastics are a $4-trillion industry; but less than 1% are bioplastics. This project will pioneer a novel approach to designing materials for the marine environment by explicitly considering the metabolism of microbes in the environment in which they are expected to biodegrade. Expendable, networked, free-drifting instruments are revolutionizing ocean observation, but these growing fleets of sensors present an environmental challenge and require a necessary shift in how society thinks about the materials used in their construction. At present, most “biodegradable” plastics have limited biodegradation in cold, dark oceanic conditions and were designed and tested only in industrial composting facilities. This project will develop both sustainable materials and testing standards that accurately reflect ocean conditions. The successful development of materials designed to rapidly degrade in seawater is expected to transform multiple marine sectors, such as fisheries, and permeate wider industry applications where marine pollution by plastics is of major concern.The research team will pioneer the embedding of live PHA-degrading marine bacteria directly into plastic materials by developing strategies for extending the viability of living cells in printed materials. The field-deployable respiration chamber developed as part of this project is expected to set a new industry standard for testing materials used in the marine environment. Materials that facilitate rapid degradation of marine instrumentation under realistic environmental conditions would transform society’s ability to deploy swarm sensors at scale. Solving this problem requires the convergence of intellectually distinct fields and approaches, as well as the involvement of stakeholders that manage marine debris and end-users. The research team will innovate, test, and integrate biomaterials designed to rapidly degrade at end-of-life in oceanic conditions. The project will develop a suite of novel plastic materials purpose-built for the marine environment by 3D printing living bacteria into the biopolymer polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA), optimized with additives to supplement microbial metabolism. Second, it will modify existing marine instrumentation to produce a chamber for directly measuring the respiration of plastic materials in deep ocean environments. Finally, the research team will work with end users to prototype products designed to be deployed in the marine environment. The overarching objective of the project is to integrate sustainable materials into oceanographic instrument 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.