This NSF RAPID grant managed by the Solid State and Materials Chemistry in Division of Materials Research has supported the self-transformation of the PI and his trainees from doing basic materials research in university labs to proactively addressing challenges associated with a major crisis in the society. It has given the team a sense of purposes during a difficult period of time.   

First, leveraging his former trainees? help, the PI?s team was able to connect to biomedical experts, frontline clinicians, and public health leaders in China, many of whom had direct work experience with covid-19, to analyze problems and brainstorm research needs for physical sciences and engineering in response to covid-19, aiming to strengthen public health responses. Together they published the first of its kind perspective article in ACS Nano [2020, 14, 3747?3754], educating the community about the basics and some common misunderstandings of the virus, and sharing a list of research needs and even research ideas to respond to the crisis. This was done when covid-19 first appeared to be far away from the US, and then became quickly overwhelming the healthcare system. It was also a time when medical experts within the reach of the PI first didn?t have direct experience with covid-19 but quickly became unavailable. This bold collaboration has produced a timely document that many have later found useful.

Encouraged by this initial publication, the PI?s team applied to qualify as essentially researchers at the university and started working on one of the research ideas ? on mask chemical modulation of respiratory droplets, when university campus was closed. They worked on site throughout the Illinois stay-home order, and eventually demonstrated the proof of concept of this idea, which aims to chemically modulation droplets escaping from face coverings, so that pathogens in the droplets can be inactivated. This has led to a highly visible publication in Matter. At a later stage of the grant, the team also demonstrated another proof of concept of self-charging fabrics based on household fibers that can potentially work as a make-shift air filters or mask materials. This has led to a manuscript under review in an open access journal. These findings add to the knowledge pool for developing new tools to enhance public health measures during an outbreak of infectious respiratory disease.  

The team?s effort has been closely followed by many media throughout this endeavor. By carefully delivering messages through various journalists, the team has helped to motivate many other researchers that would have been waiting at home. One example is the founding of a grass-root organization called AMPT Network - Advanced Material Future Preparedness Taskforce, advocating materials research to address crisis and problems in the society. The team also helped journalist to fact check for issues related to masks, droplets, and later vaccines to correct misunderstandings and combat misinformation. The PI has given many webinars to students in the Northwestern community, a few materials-related events and universities in India and Brazil.

The project has also given the participating students and trainees an unusual experience of intellectual growth. For example, one international graduate student was used as an example by University World News as an example of how US international students are poised to play a significant role in fostering international collaboration and coordination to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. An undergraduate student was given an independent project, which started remotely using household materials at her home, continued in the labs after reopening and eventually led to her first author manuscript.

Perhaps the biggest impact of the award is to see possible out of impossible. Like what the team wrote in the ACS Nano perspective: The COVID-19 pandemic is the type of global challenge that transcends territorial, political, ideological, religious, cultural, and academic boundaries. Researchers in physical sciences and engineering should rally to study such challenges, to develop new hypotheses, to define new research problems, to create user-centered solutions, and to educate ourselves and the general public, so that we can better work with biological and medical researchers to address the many aspects of challenges associated with the transmission and spread of infectious respiratory diseases.

The grant has ended but the pandemic has not. We wish to see people continue to break the boundaries and work together to create solutions.

Last Modified: 08/06/2021
Modified by: Jiaxing Huang