SBIR Phase I: Caged Urea as an Eco-friendly Nitrogen Fertilizer

SBIR 第一阶段：笼养尿素作为环保氮肥

• 批准号: 2233044
• 负责人: Chandrika Varadachari
• 金额: $ 27.45万
• 依托单位: AGTEC INNOVATIONS INC
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-09-15 至 2024-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2233044&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: SBIR; Phase; Caged; Urea; Eco

The broader/commercial impact of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is the reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and water contamination due to nitrogen fertilizers. The project will also increase agricultural productivity at lower nitrogen application rates using a novel concept of urea trapped in molecular cages. Nitrogen fertilizers can be serious environmental pollutants. Available alternatives are either too expensive for general agricultural use or cause unwanted residue buildup and are, therefore, minimally used. Pollution from nitrogen fertilizers remains a serious concern globally. This project's impact is directed at three targets: (a) Farmer income: the proposed nitrogen fertilizer may increase crop yields by 5-10%, improve farm profits, and improve the income of 10% of the US population; (b) US economy: the technology may boost the US economy by global export of this fertilizer; and (c) Environment and health: the solution may reduce greenhouse gas emissions and water pollution from nitrogen fertilizer. The project is aimed at the development of a novel fertilizer compound, where urea is trapped within a biodegradable molecular cage. The molecular cage is designed to bind urea within its structure to reduce its solubility and reduce pollutant production. Nitrogen is released from this cage only when the cage is dissolved by root secretions (such as organic acids). This technology is an intelligent release mechanism where an insoluble nutrient is released only on demand by the plant. The cage itself is constructed of plant nutrients therefore, when the plant dissolves the cage, it not only gets its nitrogen from urea but also consumes the cage because the cage is also food to the plant. To have a commercially successful product, the team will optimize the performance of the caged urea to meet agronomic and environmental targets and farmer acceptability. These goals will be accomplished by modulating the cage-link bridges to improve the trapping of urea, reducing volatilization by controlling the microenvironment modifiers, controlling emissions during production, and improving the physical properties for ease-of-farmer use. This project will help to develop caged- urea into an environmentally impactful, agronomically beneficial, marketable, consumer friendly, and manufacturable commodity.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.

这项小型企业创新研究（SBIR）I期项目的更广泛/商业影响是减少由于氮肥而导致的温室气体排放和水污染。该项目还将使用被困在分子笼中的新尿素概念在较低的氮施用率下提高农业生产率。氮肥可能是严重的环境污染物。可用的替代方案要么对于一般农业用途来说太贵了，要么引起不需要的残留物积聚，因此最少使用。氮肥受到的污染在全球范围内仍然是一个严重的关注。该项目的影响针对三个目标：（a）农民收入：拟议的氮肥可能会使农作物产量增加5-10％，提高农业利润，并提高美国人口10％的收入； （b）美国经济：该技术可以通过全球出口这种肥料来促进美国经济； （c）环境与健康：解决方案可能会减少温室气体排放和氮肥的水污染。 该项目旨在开发一种新型肥料化合物，该化合物将尿素捕获在可生物降解的分子笼中。分子笼旨在将尿素结合在其结构中，以降低其溶解度并减少污染物的产生。仅当笼子被根分泌溶解（例如有机酸）时，氮才能从该笼子中释放出来。这项技术是一种智能释放机制，仅工厂的需求释放不溶性营养素。因此，笼子本身是由植物营养素建造的，因此，当植物溶解笼子时，它不仅从尿素中获得氮，而且还消耗笼子，因为笼子也是植物的食物。为了获得商业上成功的产品，该团队将优化笼中尿素的性能，以满足农艺和环境目标以及农民的可接受性。这些目标将通过调节笼链桥来改善尿素的捕获，从而通过控制微环境修饰符，控制生产过程中的排放并改善物理特性，以减少挥发物，从而改善尿素的捕获，从而改善挥发性，从而改善这些目标，从而提高了这些目标。该项目将有助于将笼尿扩散成具有环境有影响力的，有益于农艺有益，可销售，消费者友好和可制造商品的商品。该奖项反映了NSF的法定任务，并被认为是值得通过基金会的智力优点和更广泛影响的评估审查标准来通过评估来获得支持的。