Ice formation damages aircraft wings, bursts frozen water pipes, and kills cells stored for medical treatments — and the current fixes are wasteful or toxic. This project tackles a practical problem: the need for better, greener antifreeze agents. Today, planes are de-iced with chemical solvents, vineyards are heated with gas burners, and cell therapies rely on dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), a toxic cryoprotectant. Ice-binding proteins from fish and insects could replace these methods, but they are too expensive and scarce to produce at scale. Synthetic polymer mimics exist but are made from unsustainable materials and do not degrade. The researchers will create biodegradable antifreeze polymers from poly(amino acids) — essentially, synthetic proteins. They will first identify which molecular structures are needed to bind ice, then develop a scalable, industrial production method similar to how nylon is made. They will test the polymers in three real-world settings: cellular cryopreservation, anti-icing surfaces, and reducing ice adhesion. A full life-cycle analysis will ensure the materials are sustainable from production to disposal. If successful, this work could make cell therapies safer and cheaper, reduce the environmental footprint of de-icing, and provide a degradable alternative to current antifreeze chemicals — without relying on scarce natural proteins.
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ce formation and growth is a problem wherever sub-zero temperatures exist, requiring antifreeze/cryoprotectants, spanning in aerospace, renewable energy, vaccine delivery, biomedical research and the food industry. Anti-icing strategies currently deploy unsustainable practices, using large volumes of solvents to di-ice planes, to using methane-gas burners to prevent vineyards from freezing, to emerging cell-based therapies which urgently need advanced cryoprotectants to supplement DMSO-based freezing methods. Ice binding proteins have shown potential to transform how low-temperatures are mitigated in a range of academic and industrial challenge areas, but are simply not available at scale, nor a practical price point. Current polymeric mimics of IBPs have been shown to be potent, but are obtained by unsustainable methods, and are not degradable. In this proposal we will address the challenge of how to deploy the favourable properties of ice binding proteins, but using sustainable and degradable synthetic polymer mimics. Synthetic poly(amino acid) materials expertise at RCSI will be combined with UoM expertise in biomacromolecular mimics of ice binding proteins and polymer-sustainability, to discover the next generation of polymeric 'antifreeze' agents that are resorbable and/or degrade in the environment. Our goal is to first understand the structural requirements to retain ice recognition/modulation in chemically-simple poly(amino acids). We will then develop sustainable strategies for their upscaling focussed on both production by step-growth synthesis (with integrated life cycle analysis) as well as end of life (degradation): a cradle to grave, not cradle to gate approach. We will deliver future environmental and industrial impact by showing their function as anti-icing agents and the storage of cell-based therapies and quantitative, critical, life cycle analysis considerations. We will also upskill the researchers with critical, and authentic, sustainability skills. Our specific objectives are: 1. Use N-carboxyanhydride (NCA) polymerisation as a discovery tool to obtain precision poly(amino acid)s based on polyproline (PP) II and alpha helices. 2. Map the polymer/ice binding activity relationships to identify core structural motifs which are essential to activity. - Show biodegradation under hydrolytic, microbial and in vivo relevant conditions, to identify the material (from Obj. II) which is most ideal for diverse environments of release. 1. Demonstrate scalable synthesis of the most active materials using step-growth/condensation polymerisation, which is an industrially relevant method, used for e.g. Nylon preparation 2. Use polymers in model application areas of cellular cryopreservation, anti-icing and reduced ice-adhesion application areas. 3. Quantify impacts through life cycle analysis of the materials to understand, and mitigate, their impact.
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