FEW: EAGER: Biomass-derived Porous Polymers to Remove Organic Pollutants From Agriculture and Wastewater Impacted Water Resources

化学系化学测量和成像计划凭借这一热切的奖项，资助康奈尔大学的威廉·迪希特尔和达米安·赫尔布林教授开发一种从玉米淀粉中提取的多孔聚合物，这种聚合物可以快速去除水中的有机污染物。通过这种方法得到的第一种聚合物表现出快速的污染物吸收，并且可以在比活性碳更温和的条件下再生和重复使用。该项目的重点是研究污染物在与环境相关的浓度下与聚合物结合的基本过程，以及进一步改善聚合物的性能。通过这种方式，它解决了与水污染有关的关键问题，这是与粮食-能源-水关系相关的一个重要挑战。这项工作的更广泛影响包括新的净水技术的社会效益，以及在一个发展中国家计划从被农业径流污染的水源中去除杀虫剂的努力。该项目侧重于基于环糊精单体的新型多孔聚合物。初步实验证明了这种方法的前景，但重点放在相对高浓度的目标污染物上。目前正在按与环境有关的浓度对大量有机微污染物的去除进行评估。环糊精聚合物去除单个化合物和化合物混合物的动力学和热力学结合参数与各种活性碳的动力学和热力学结合参数进行了比较。这些研究为改变聚合物结构以改变其吸收性能、改善其表面积和控制颗粒大小提供了平行的努力。最后，正在对单体和聚合物的制造进行可持续性分析，以评估与制造这种材料相关的投入，以此作为衡量其潜在效用的额外指标。

With this EAGER award, the Chemical Measurement and Imaging Program of the Division of Chemistry is funding Professors William Dichtel and Damian Helbling of Cornell University to develop a porous polymer derived from cornstarch that rapidly removes organic pollutants from water. The first polymer derived from this approach shows rapid pollutant uptake and can be regenerated and reused under more mild conditions than activated carbons. The project focuses on studying the fundamental processes by which contaminants bind to the polymer at environmentally relevant concentrations as well as further improving the polymer's properties. In this way, it addresses critical issues associated with water contamination that represents an important challenge relevant to the food-energy-water nexus. The broader impacts of the work include the societal benefit of new water purification technologies as well as a planned effort to remove pesticides from water sources contaminated by agricultural runoff in a developing country.This project focuses on new porous polymers based on cyclodextrin monomers. Preliminary experiments demonstrated the promise of this approach but focused on relatively high concentrations of target pollutants. The removal of a larger number of organic micropollutants are being evaluated at environmentally relevant concentrations. Kinetic and thermodynamic binding parameters for the removal of individual compounds and compound mixtures by the cyclodextrin polymer are being compared to those of various activated carbons. These studies inform parallel efforts to change the polymer structure to vary its uptake properties and improve its surface area and control particle size. Finally, a sustainability analysis of the monomers and manufacture of the polymer is underway, so as to evaluate the inputs associated with manufacturing this material as an additional metric of its potential utility.