SusChEM: Collaborative Research: Development and Application of Piezoelectric Nanoheterostructures to Reduce the Chemical and Energy Demand of Water Treatment

Shai1437989Cwiertny1437122 Nam1437923SusChEM：合作研究：开发和应用压电纳米异质结构以降低水处理的化学和能源需求水和废水处理约占美国所有能源消耗的5%。因此，为了应对与清洁水生产相关的巨大化学和能源需求，该项目将开发纳米结构压电催化剂，将水处理中可用的大量废机械能(例如，泵的振动)转化为可用于污染物降解的化学能。科学目标与教育目标相结合，是在催化、环境化学、纳米技术、材料科学和可持续发展科学的界面上培养三名研究生和几名本科生，帮助未来的研究领导者更好地准备解决能源-水关系带来的复杂、多方面的问题。教育和外展活动以STEM和K-12中代表性不足的群体为中心，促进他们参与乔治华盛顿大学(GW)、加州大学河滨分校(UCR；一家拉美裔服务机构(HSI)和爱荷华大学(UI)的研究活动。这包括UCR和Cal Poly Pomona(主要是本科院校和HSI)之间的本科生研究伙伴关系，以及PI参与GW(无墙学校)和UI(暑期研究机会学者计划)的现有指导活动。这项研究的动机是压倒一切的假设，即当前压电催化剂的低效率可以通过一维(1D)混合纳米结构的智能设计来克服，优化的一维(1D)混合纳米结构优化了(I)通过直接压电效应产生电势和电流，以及(Ii)通过促进ROS产生的辅助催化剂进行高效的压电电荷分离。该研究计划围绕两个主要任务展开：(I)合理设计、制造和优化压电催化剂的性能；(Ii)展示其作为污染物氧化、消毒、抗菌表面和化学反应滤膜等新一代多功能技术的应用。建议的研究将主要集中在通过静电纺丝制备的一类新型复合纳米纤维上，这种纤维将聚合物压电材料(例如PVDF)的弹性和强度与更具活性的无机相(例如ZnO、BaTiO3)混合在一起，否则这些相过于刚性和化学稳定性较差，无法作为独立的压电催化剂发挥作用。这项工作具有潜在的变革性，因为所开发的催化纳米纤维平台将为高级氧化工艺(AOPS)和膜过滤提供一条更可持续的路线，这些高性能技术目前由于与其化学需求、成本和碳足迹相关的担忧而受到应用限制。

Shuai1437989Cwiertny1437122Nam1437923SusChEM: Collaborative Research: Development and Application of Piezoelectric Nanoheterostructures to Reduce the Chemical and Energy Demand of Water TreatmentWater and wastewater treatment account for approximately 5 % of all of the energy consumption in the US. Therefore, in response to the tremendous chemical and energy demands associated with clean water production, this project will develop nanostructured piezoelectric catalysts for converting the abundance of waste mechanical energy available in water treatment (e.g., pump vibrations) into useable forms of chemical energy for pollutant degradation. The scientific goals are coupled to educational goals are to train three graduate and several undergraduate students at the interface of catalysis, environmental chemistry, nanotechnology, materials science and sustainability science, helping better prepare the research leaders of tomorrow to address the complex, multi-faceted problems posed by the energy-water nexus. The education and outreach initiatives center on underrepresented groups in STEM and K-12, promoting their involvement in research activities at the George Washington University (GW), U.C. Riverside (UCR; a Hispanic serving institution (HSI)), and the University of Iowa (UI). This includes an undergraduate research partnership between UCR and Cal Poly Pomona (a primarily undergraduate institution and HSI), and PI involvement in existing mentoring activities at GW (School Without Walls) and UI (Summer Research Opportunities Scholars Program).The motivation for this study is the overriding hypothesis that inefficiencies in current piezocatalysts can be overcome by the smart design of one-dimensional (1D) hybrid nanostructures optimized for (i) potential and current generation via the direct piezoelectric effect and (ii) efficient piezogenerated charge separation via co-catalysts that promote ROS production. The research plan centers on two main tasks to (i) rationally design, fabricate and optimize the performance of piezoelectric catalysts, and (ii) demonstrate their application as versatile, next-generation technologies for pollutant oxidation, disinfection, antimicrobial surfaces, and chemically reactive filtration membranes. The studies proposed will focus primarily on a novel class of composite nanofibers prepared via electro-spinning that blend the resiliency and strength of polymeric piezoelectric materials (e.g., PVDF) with more reactive inorganic phases (e.g., ZnO, BaTiO3) that are otherwise too rigid and chemically less stable to function as stand-alone piezocatalysts. This work is potentially transformative in that catalytic nanofiber platforms developed will provide a more sustainable route to advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) and membrane filtration, high performance technologies that currently are limited in application due to concerns associated with their chemical demand, cost and carbon footprint.