CAREER: Interfacial Processes Impacting the Chemical Fate of Organic Contaminants

9984489瓦苏德万这笔赠款的总体目标是开发一种综合方法，以教授和理解非生物界面过程在污染物衰减和动员中的作用。这些基础知识将用于预测污染物的去向、现场补救和“绿色”化学品的设计标准。该项目旨在实现这些长期目标的目标是：(1)确定极性/离子性有机化合物(P/IOCs)的衰减和动员能力与地下的变异性/复杂性以及污染物的结构和物理化学性质有关；(2)开发利用研究成果的实验室组成部分、演示、设计项目、互动可视化技术、案例研究和作业，并利用适当的教学、学习和评估方法实施这些工具；(3)通过为女高中生提供机会，使她们有机会发现环境工程学的刺激和挑战，从而努力招募年轻女性进入科学和工程学专业。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迁移之间的相互关系相对较好，而对于P/IOC，类似的关系正在发展中。这种关系提供了关于化学行为的有价值的信息；然而，它们在描述现场尺度上的污染物去向和迁移方面的使用受到地下成分和物理化学性质的空间差异的限制。P/IOC可能不是故意释放用于实地研究的，因此，罗丹明WT(RWT)等结构上相关的无害示踪剂可能是将基于实验室的P/IOC研究扩展到现场规模的宝贵工具。目前，RWT与地下的相互作用还没有得到充分的表征，无法定量预测RWT的命运。将识别和量化可能影响非生物界面过程的溶质(RWT和测试P/IOCs)和地下变量。将进行批量测试、连续流动搅拌反应器测试和柱实验，并对结果进行分析，以确定操作界面过程，并测量作为污染物和固体基质属性函数的相关平衡和动力学参数。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亚表面变量，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。将探索将这些关系扩展到命运和运输建模。在教育方面，研究成果将作为实验室练习和演示的平台，说明命运的基本原理、补救措施和设计标准。概念图是一种空间学习战略，强调层次关系的可视化和概念之间的交叉链接，将作为一种学习工具推出。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本知识与应用于污染物的命运预测和补救相结合。女高中生将被邀请参加国际学生联合会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. ***