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

有了这个EAGER奖，化学系的化学测量和成像计划正在资助康奈尔大学的William Dichtel和Damian Helbling教授开发一种从玉米淀粉中提取的多孔聚合物，可以快速去除水中的有机污染物。从这种方法得到的第一种聚合物显示出快速的污染物吸收，并且可以在比活性炭更温和的条件下再生和再利用。该项目的重点是研究污染物在环境相关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-水关系有关的一个重要挑战。这项工作的更广泛影响包括新的水净化技术的社会效益，以及一个发展中国家计划从受农业径流污染的水源中去除农药的努力。初步实验证明了这种方法的前景，但侧重于相对较高浓度的目标污染物。目前正在评估在环境相关浓度下清除大量有机微污染物的情况。动力学和热力学结合参数的去除个别化合物和化合物的混合物的环糊精聚合物正在进行比较的各种活性炭。这些研究为改变聚合物结构以改变其吸收特性并改善其表面积和控制粒度的平行努力提供了信息。最后，正在进行单体和聚合物生产的可持续性分析，以评估与生产这种材料相关的投入，作为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.