SBIR Phase I: Aerogels Derived from Genetically Engineered Microbial Cells

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is development of green insulation materials for the over $50 billion-per-year building insulation industry. These materials will (i) have high R-values, (ii) be safe to install, (iii) not require toxic chemical and fossil fuel feedstocks, (iv) reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and (v) be produced securely in the United States. By developing new biotechnology tools to make these materials, this project will advance the fields of energy conservation and material science and grow the bio-economy. The new materials will be sustainable, biologically grown versions of the best known insulation materials called aerogels. As excellent insulators requiring little energy to produce, these biological aerogels will reduce GHG emissions. Being non-toxic, the materials will be safer to make and install. Production with locally-sourced materials will secure vulnerable supply chains revealed by the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. These materials will help meet increasing demand for green building materials. For example, Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certified buildings command premium new and resale prices, with under 300 certifications in 2007 growing to over 67,000 in 2018. Using genetically engineered bacteria, this SBIR Phase I project will develop an entirely new aerogel material that is a composite of bacterial cellulose (BC) and structures forming nanoscale cavities of air. This approach will circumvent the supercritical drying needed in the production of conventional aerogels, which is an expensive and energy intensive process because it requires high temperatures and high pressures. These biological aerogels materials will have excellent insulation properties comparable to conventional aerogels, (that is, high R-values) produced at a fraction of the cost. To create biological aerogels for insulation, the project plan is to (1) optimize production of the components (BC and nanoscale cavity structures), (2) use genetic engineering tools to merge the components to create a biologically-derived aerogel, and (3) create synthetic gene networks to endow the biological aerogel with hydrophobicity and fire-retardant properties needed for a building insulation material. The project will employ heterologous expression of genes in a tractable organism and systematic tuning of those genes to achieve its ambitious goals. 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.