Search
The Inventor
Dr. Qixin Zhong is an associate professor in the Department of Food Science and Technology at the University of Tennessee. Dr. Zhong received his B.S. in Animal Nutrition and Feed Processing from Wuhan Grain Industry College, in Wuhan, China and his M.S. in Food science from North Carolina State University. He has received Ph. D.s in Food Science and Chemical Engineering, both from North Carolina State University. At UT, his research interests include delivery systems as novel food ingredients, food nanoscience and nanotechnology, and interfacial engineering.
Contact
The University of Tennessee Research Foundation (UTRF) is a non-profit corporation responsible for commercializing University of Tennessee technologies and for supporting University research. UTRF is seeking parties interested in learning more about this technology and in exploring possible research and/or commercialization arrangements.
If after reviewing this abstract you would like further information, please phone us at 865.974.1882 or send an email to utrfinnovations@tennessee.edu and reference PD 11015. We will get in touch with you as soon as possible to make the appropriate arrangements, including discussions with the inventor. We will also be glad to discuss possible avenues for commercialization of this technology or answer any questions you may have regarding UTRF.
Method to Synthesize Nanotubes for Further Fabrication of Novel Materials
Engineering Technologies for Licensing
The Technology
The food, pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries are constantly looking for novel absorbents that can reduce the cost of purification. The inner and outer walls of open, hollow nanotubes can be used as adsorption sites to improve surface area capacity. Previously, Dr. Zhong and research team identified that cylindrical micelles of Acid Red 1 are promising templates to synthesize polypyrrole nanotubes. Dr. Zhong has now developed a method to further manipulate polypyrrole nanotubes so that use can be achieved for different ligands with densities that can be manipulated. These ligands enable purification mechanisms of anion and cation exchanges, metal affinity, and biological affinity. The functionalized nanotubes can be directly used as adsorbents in column chromatography or further engineered to have magnetic properties enabling recovery by a magnetic field. These nanotubes also can be used in applications other than purification to enhance surface area per unit mass.
Benefits
- Can be fabricated for large surface area applications such as batteries and solar cells.
- Provides a foundation to manufacture a variety of adsorbents for many applications.