This grant provides funding to establish new methods and equipment to produce nanocomposites for biomedical applications at increased volume for direct translation to industry. This new synthesis method will combine electrospray, a top-down, continuous spraying process, with self-assembly, a bottom-up process that occurs spontaneously. Three equipment configurations will be examined to optimize the ratio of particle formation speed (i.e., kinetics) to particle quality (i.e., thermodynamics). This process will be developed in collaboration with experts in science communication to ensure that appropriate societal, ethical, and environmental health and safety considerations are integrated into the process design as it is being developed. The results of this process will be evaluated in two industrial test-beds focusing on biomedical imaging and separations.
If successful, this research will addresses critical roadblocks in nanocomposite commercialization by providing a continuous manufacturing strategy for nanocomposite formation. Because electrospray droplet morphology is tightly controlled, this method should enable greater process control and improved particle uniformity, reproducibility, and scale. This research will study three nanocomposites with strong commercialization potential: composite magnetic nanoparticles, composite quantum dots (QDs), and magnetic QDs, which have potential applications in biomedical imaging, clinical diagnostics, and pharmaceutical separations. However, this approach could be used to manufacture composites containing any hydrophobic components smaller than the nanocontainer, and could thus impact a diverse range of fields including electronics, optics, and energy. Broad sharing of our endeavor to safely commercialize new nanocomposite products will be undertaken by two outstanding non-profit educational partners: Edheads, award-winning education web game producers, and the Museum of Science, Boston, lead of the NSF Nanoscale Informal Science Education (NISE) Network.
