I-Corps: Antimicrobial polyvinyl chloride (PVC) pipe to reduce biofouling in hydroponic farming

I-Corps：抗菌聚氯乙烯 (PVC) 管道可减少水培农业中的生物污垢

• 批准号: 2334423
• 负责人: Songping Huang
• 金额: $ 5万
• 依托单位: Kent State University
• 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: 2023-09-01 至 2024-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2334423&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Corps; Antimicrobial; polyvinyl; chloride; PVC

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is the development of a antimicrobial polyvinyl chloride (PVC) pipe that can inhibit biofouling by bacteria for the agriculture industry. Currently, polyvinylchloride (PVC) is the predominant material used for tubing and nutrient beds thanks to its cheap cost and environmental resistance. However, farms must either regularly dissemble and clean PVC components or replace them altogether, since the regular use of biocides does not prevent biofouling. The goal is to reduce the cleaning and maintenance required in micro/drip irrigation and hydroponic farms, saving costs, and improving productivity. Bacteria are able to grow on most plastic surfaces as there are few approved antimicrobial alternatives. The proposed technology is designed to include antimicrobial materials embedded into PVC that are safe for use in agriculture and could save US farmers significant time and money every year. This I-Corps project is based on the development of a bismuth oxide nanomaterial that may be used as a broad-spectrum antimicrobial agent. The goal is to treat PVC pipe by embedding the bismuth oxide nanomaterial or using it as a coating for use in agricultural applications. Although antimicrobial surface treated PVC tubing is available, the high cost has prevented widespread adoption and no antimicrobial PVC materials are currently approved for food production by the FDA, EPA, or state entities. Bismuth, unlike other antimicrobial metals such as mercury, lead and cadmium and many others, is known to be nontoxic to mammalian cells, and may be safely ingested at gram-scale quantities. Tests of the proposed nanomaterial showed that nanostructured bismuth oxide was found to be a broad-spectrum antimicrobial agent as shown by its minimum inhibitory concentration, which ranges from 0.75 μg/mL to 2.5 μg/mL, depending on the bacteria tested. In addition, a strong growth inhibitory effect also was found on methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) derived biofilms. The proposed technology may show similar efficacy in agricultural settings since bismuth oxide nanomaterials are not limited to targeting bacteria-specific proteins like most antibiotics. Also, bismuth oxide nanomaterials do not behave like any conventional antibiotics in that they do not trigger the rapid development of drug resistance like the conventional antibiotics. The lack of available and agriculture approved antimicrobial polymers presents a current unmet need, and use of new antimicrobial materials embedded into PVC may save US farmers significant time and money.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.

该I-Corps项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是开发抗菌聚氯乙烯（PVC）管道，该管道可以抑制细菌对农业行业的生物污染。目前，聚氯乙烯（PVC）是用于油管和营养床的主要材料，归功于其廉价的成本和环境抵抗力。但是，农场必须定期散布和清洁PVC组件或完全更换它们，因为定期使用杀菌剂不能阻止生物污染。目的是减少微/滴灌和水培农场所需的清洁和维护，节省成本并提高生产率。细菌能够在大多数塑料表面上生长，因为很少有批准的抗菌替代品。拟议的技术旨在包括嵌入PVC中的抗菌材料，这些材料可安全地用于陈述，并可以每年为我们的农民节省大量的时间和金钱。这个I-Corps项目基于可以用作广谱抗菌剂的氧化二氧化碳纳米材料的发展。目的是通过嵌入氧化二氧化碳纳米材料或将其用作用于农业应用中的涂层来治疗PVC管道。尽管可以使用经过抗菌表面处理的PVC管道，但高成本可以阻止采用宽度，并且目前未经FDA，EPA或国家实体批准抗菌PVC材料。与其他抗菌金属（如汞，铅和镉以及许多其他抗菌金属）不同，对哺乳动物细胞无毒，并且可以安全地以革兰氏阴性量摄入。对所提出的纳米材料的测试表明，发现纳米结构的氧化物是一种广谱抗菌剂，如其最小抑制浓度所示，根据细菌的测试，其最小抑制浓度范围从0.75μg/ml至2.5μg/ml。此外，发现对甲氧基蛋白抗葡萄球菌金黄色葡萄球菌（MRSA）衍生的生物膜的强生长抑制作用。提出的技术在农业环境中可能显示出相似的有效性，因为氧化二氧化碳纳米材料不限于像大多数抗生素一样靶向细菌特异性蛋白。同样，二氧化碳纳米材料的行为不像任何常规抗生素一样，因为它们不会像常规抗生素那样触发耐药性的快速发展。缺乏可用和农业批准的抗微生物聚合物表现出目前的未满足需求，并且使用嵌入PVC中的新抗菌材料可能会节省我们的农民大量时间和金钱。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定任务，并通过使用该基金会的知识分子优点和广泛的影响来评估NSF的法定任务，并被认为是宝贵的支持。