CAREER: Interfacial Processes Impacting the Chemical Fate of Organic Contaminants

9984489 Vasudevan该补助金的总体目标是开发一种综合方法来教学和理解非生物界面过程在污染物衰减和动员中的作用。 这些基本知识将直接用于污染物命运的预测、场地修复和“绿色”化学品的设计标准。 该项目旨在实现这些长期目标，其目标是：（1）描述极性/离子源有机化合物（P/IOCs）的衰减和移动作为地下变化性/复杂性和污染物结构和物理化学性质的函数，（2）开发实验室组件、演示、设计项目、交互式可视化技术，利用研究结果的案例研究和作业，并使用适当的教学，学习和评价方法（3）为高中女生提供机会，让她们了解科学和工程领域的知识，环境工程的兴奋和挑战。 对于疏水性有机化合物，污染物的化学结构与其在地下的衰减和流动之间的相互关系相对较好地建立起来，而对于P/IOC，类似的关系正在开发中。 这种关系提供了有价值的信息，化学行为，但是，它们的使用在描述污染物的命运和运输领域的规模变得有限的地下成分和物理化学性质的空间变化。 P/IOC可能不会故意释放用于现场研究，因此，结构相关的无害示踪剂，如罗丹明WT（RWT），可作为有价值的工具，以扩大基于实验室的P/IOC研究的现场规模。 目前，RWT-地下相互作用尚未得到充分表征，无法定量预测RWT的结局。 将确定和量化可能影响非生物界面过程的溶质（RWT和测试P/IOC）和地下变量。 将进行批试验、连续流搅拌反应器试验和柱试验，并对结果进行分析，以确定操作界面过程，并测量相关的平衡和动力学参数，作为污染物和固体基质性质的函数。 实验数据将使用化学计量学技术进行分析，以确定影响界面过程的关键溶质和地下变量，表征变量之间的相互作用，并建立变量与导出的动力学和平衡参数之间的关系。 扩展这些关系的命运和运输建模将进行探讨。 在教育方面，研究成果将被用作实验室练习和演示的平台，说明命运、补救和设计标准的基本原理。 概念图是一种空间学习策略，强调概念之间的层次关系和交叉联系的可视化，将被引入作为一种学习工具。 专题作业和相关讨论部分将指导学生解决问题;案例研究和设计项目将用于将基础知识与污染物的命运预测和补救应用相结合。 女高中生将被邀请参加PI实验室的实践活动和研究项目。***

9984489 Vasudevan The overall objective of this grant is the development of an integrated approach to teaching and understanding the role of abiotic interfacial processes in contaminant attenuation and mobilization. This fundamental knowledge will be directed toward prediction of contaminant fate, site remediation, and design criteria for "green" chemicals. The objectives of this project designed to achieve these long-term goals are: (1) to characterize attenuation and mobilization of polar/ionogenic organic compounds (P/IOCs) as a function of subsurface variability/complexity and contaminant structure and physico-chemical properties, (2) to develop laboratory components, demonstrations, design projects, interactive visualization techniques, case studies and assignments that utilize results from the research and to implement these tools using appropriate instructional, learning and evaluation methods and (3) to initiate an effort to recruit young women into science and engineering by providing opportunities for female high school students to discover the excitement and challenges of environmental engineering. The interrelationships between the chemical structure of a contaminant and its attenuation and mobilization in the subsurface are relatively well established for hydrophobic organic compounds, while similar relationships for P/IOCs are under development. Such relationships provide valuable information about chemical behavior; however, their use in describing contaminant fate and transport at the field scale becomes limited by spatial variation in subsurface composition and physico-chemical properties. P/IOCs may not be intentionally released for field studies, hence, structurally related innocuous tracers such as Rhodamine WT (RWT) may serve as valuable tools to scale laboratory based P/IOC research to the field scale. At this time, RWT-subsurface interactions have not been sufficiently characterized to allow for quantitative prediction of RWT fate. Solute (RWT and test P/IOCs) and subsurface variables that are likely to influence abiotic interfacial processes will be identified and quantified. Batch tests, continuous flow stirred reactor tests and column experiments will be conducted and results analyzed to identify operative interfacial processes and measure related equilibrium and kinetic parameters as a function of contaminant and solid-matrix properties. Experimental data will be analyzed using chemometric techniques to identify key solute and subsurface variables impacting interfacial processes, characterize interaction between variables, and develop relationships between the variables and the derived kinetic and equilibrium parameters. Extension of these relationships to fate and transport modeling will be explored. With respect to education, the research results will be used as a platform for laboratory exercises and demonstrations that illustrate fundamentals of fate, remediation and design criteria. Concept maps, a spatial learning strategy that emphasizes visualization of hierarchical relationships and cross-links between concepts, will be introduced as a learning tool. Topical assignments and related discussion sections will guide students with problem-solving; case studies and design projects will be used to interface the fundamental knowledge with applications to fate predictions and remediation of contaminants. Female high school students will be invited to participate in hands-on activities and research projects in the PI's laboratory. ***