SBIR PhaseI: Water Cleaning with Photocatalytic Nanofiber Mesh

这项小企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目将进一步开发该公司的可见光活化光催化纳米纤维网技术，以清除油气钻井作业（如水力压裂）产生的采出水中的碳氢化合物污染。它涉及一种非常有前途和独特的方法，通过原位分解成环保产品来去除石油污染水中的污染物。该提案探索了基于CuO-WO3体系的高质量、低成本纳米制造催化纳米纤维网的新型可扩展工艺，旨在评估其光催化效率，以分解各种浓度的BTEX（苯、甲苯、乙苯和二甲苯）。该领域的试点研究将为这些纳米纤维网的效力和可用性提供明确的衡量标准。工艺条件的灵活性（与污染物的接触时间、可浮性、回收、再利用）是这种基于纳米材料的技术的关键特征之一，也是对经济水修复技术的迫切需求的有力回应。该项目的更广泛影响/商业潜力涉及修复水中的石油污染。石油衍生物是对环境最危险的化合物之一。水力压裂作业产生的采出水会被BTEX等碳氢化合物污染。光催化纳米纤维网技术提供了一种以最具成本效益和最环保的方式控制和清洁水中BTEX污染的手段。目前的光催化剂只能被约2%的太阳辐照度激活，而纳米纤维网则能对来自整个太阳光谱的辐射做出反应。而且太阳能是免费的。除了水的修复，纳米纤维网技术的直接应用被设想在过滤，以及生物医学和制药工业。扩大纳米制造过程将在降低成本和增加纳米网格在实际商业产品中的可用性方面提供显著的好处。这项技术的商业化将为熟练工人和非熟练工人创造新的就业机会，将提供培训劳动力使用纳米材料技术和纳米制造制造真正的多功能市场产品的机会，它将有益于环境和人类福利。

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will further develop the company's visible-light activated Photocatalytic Nanofiber Mesh technology to clean up hydrocarbon contamination in produced water resulting from oil and gas drilling operations, such as fracking. It involves a highly promising and unique approach to remove contaminants from petroleum-oil polluted water by decomposing them in-situ into environmental friendly products. The proposal explores novel scalable processes for nanomanufacturing the catalytic nanofiber mesh based on the CuO-WO3 system in high quantities and at low cost and aims to assessing their photocatalytic efficiency with respect to decomposing a wide range of BTEX (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylenes) concentrations. Pilot studies in the field will provide definite measures of the potency and usability of these nanofiber meshes. The flexibility of process conditions (contact time with pollutant, floatability, recovery, reuse) are among the key features of this nanomaterials-based technology and a solid response to an urgent need for economic water remediation technologies. The broader impact/commercial potential of this project involves remediating oil pollution in water. Oil derivatives are among the most dangerous compounds for the environment. Produced water from fracking operations results in large amount of water contaminated with hydrocarbons such as BTEX. The photocatalytic nanofiber mesh technology provides a means to contain and clean BTEX contamination in water, in a most cost-effective and ecofriendly manner. While current photocatalysts are activated by only about 2% of the solar irradiance, the nanofiber mesh responds to radiation from the full solar spectrum. And solar power is free. Apart from water remediation, immediate uses of the nanofiber mesh technology are envisioned in filtration, as well as in biomedical and pharmaceutical industries. Scaling-up the nanomanufacturing process will provide significant benefits in terms of reducing the cost and increasing the availability of the nanogrids to be used in actual commercial products. Commercializing this technology will create new jobs for both skilled and unskilled workers, will provide the opportunity to train the workforce in using nanomaterials technology and nanomanufacturing to make real and versatile market products, and it will benefit the environment and the human welfare.