CAREER: Development of Reactive Electrochemical Membranes for Sustainable Water Treatment Applications: An Integrated Research and Education Plan

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1453081ChaplinCAREER: Development of Reactive Electrochemical Membranes for Sustainable Water Treatment Applications: An Integrated Research and Education PlanWithin the context of sustainability, water will be critical in the 21st Century. There are numerous aspects to water sustainability with one of the technology areas being the development of membranes for many different uses. As examples, these membranes may be useful in water and wastewater treatment and/or desalination. Therefore, the overarching goal of this CAREER proposal is to promote water sustainability through developing a new class of reactive electrochemical membranes for water treatment. This will be accomplished through a comprehensive research plan focused on membrane technology development, work to develop an integrated education plan that translates this research into several teaching modules, and professional development activities targeted at a diverse student population. This work seeks to lay the groundwork for a new generation of reactive electrode materials that will be useful across different water treatment applications.The research plan includes the development of novel membrane materials; a mechanistic understanding of the processes associated with contaminant removal at reactive electrochemical membranes; and new tools to assess and optimize reactive electrochemical membranes performance (i.e., in situ flow-module and scanning electrochemical microscopy). The specific research objectives are to 1) develop a mechanistic understanding of the electrochemical reactions that occur on the reactive electrochemical membranes surface in diverse water matrices; 2) understand how these reactions act to destroy/remove water contaminants, inactivate pathogens, and prevent biofilm formation; and 3) construct robust, reliable, and low maintenance reactive electrochemical membranes that can be used in water treatment. The PI also will develop, 1) new teaching modules focused on emerging water treatment technologies; 2) educational manuscripts related to environmental electrochemistry; and 3) innovative strategies for teaching and knowledge dissemination that involve video labs and the use of social media to create on-demand learning. This project will also introduce students from underrepresented groups to engineering research; and improve the general public's scientific literacy via dissemination of educational modules through social media and involvement with Engineers without Borders.