# ELIMINATION OF AIRBORNE VOLATILE COMPOUNDS THROUGH INCORPORATION OF ADVANCED 3D NANOSTRUCTURED CATALYTIC COATINGS IN ADSORPTION/DECOMPOSITION AIR PURIFICATION SYSTEMS

> **NIH NIH R44** · METALMARK INNOVATIONS, PBC · 2022 · $795,659

## Abstract

Project Summary / Abstract
Every year, eight million premature deaths and $5 trillion of societal costs are linked to air
pollution. According to the US EPA, indoor air quality (IAQ) is often two to five times worse
than outdoor air, which is especially alarming since we spend 90% of our time indoors. In fact,
poor IAQ accounts for 48% of air pollution-related deaths. Submicron-scale pollutants,
particularly volatile organic compounds (VOCs), cause serious chronic illnesses, ranging from
cancer to pulmonary diseases, and reduce worker productivity and student concentration.
Existing technologies rely on pollutant capturing, trapping, and sometimes destruction, but are
all known to have problems from desorption to byproduct creation and ozone generation.
Metalmark Innovations, Inc. is developing an advanced hybrid sorption-catalyst air purification
system to capture and destroy such pollutants in an e cient and byproduct-free manner. The air
purifier relies on Metalmark’s proprietary 3D nanostructured thermal catalytic materials that are
uniquely suited for IAQ applications, due to their significantly enhanced activity, reduced
operating temperatures and associated reduction in energy consumption, exceptional catalyst
stability (no nanoparticle sintering), and reduced cost compared to their commercially available
counterparts. VOCs are captured in a sorbent module and intermittently released to the catalyst
for complete destruction without release of byproducts. In this Phase II project, we will source
and improve sorbent materials, design the Metalmark catalysts, optimize the sorbent-catalyst
system, produce three generations of air purifier prototypes through an iterative learning
process, and perform at least one pilot study using the final prototype. Overcoming the
technological challenges posed in this SBIR Phase II project will propel this innovative indoor
VOC treatment system towards a commercial product for improving the safety of indoor air of
o ces, hotels, schools, homes, and other indoor or in-cabin spaces.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10384126
- **Project number:** 2R44ES031893-02
- **Recipient organization:** METALMARK INNOVATIONS, PBC
- **Principal Investigator:** Elijah Shirman
- **Activity code:** R44 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $795,659
- **Award type:** 2
- **Project period:** 2022-02-01 → 2024-01-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10384126

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10384126, ELIMINATION OF AIRBORNE VOLATILE COMPOUNDS THROUGH INCORPORATION OF ADVANCED 3D NANOSTRUCTURED CATALYTIC COATINGS IN ADSORPTION/DECOMPOSITION AIR PURIFICATION SYSTEMS (2R44ES031893-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-27 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10384126. Licensed CC0.

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