HBCU DCL: EAGER Collaborative Engineering of a Biodegradable Polymer for Treatment of Various Water Systems

目前，地球上所有的水中只有不到1%的淡水可供人类使用。随着人类活动的增加，导致工业废水、城市径流、受污染的溢出物和废水处理排放造成的水污染，需要开发更具创新性和可行性的解决方案，以提供可持续的方法来处理各种类型的受污染水源。该提案旨在开发可控释生物降解聚合物，用于地表水、地下水和废水系统的处理。这些聚合物将在不需要外部电力、设备或额外化学品的情况下处理受污染的水，同时只产生最少的可生物降解的副产品。本项目的重点是对控制释放的化学氧化剂聚合物处理各种水源水的基本了解。此外，还将研究新的氧化剂改善和优化这一处理输送机制的能力。对于那些在工程、水资源、可持续发展、环境科学和公共卫生领域保持水质的人来说，实施的简便性将是变革性的。拟议的研究计划探索了在佛罗里达州收集的微生物的消毒和污染物的氧化。这种可控释生物降解聚合物的开发将基于Co-PI开发的一项专利，并对其进行改进，以处理水源的物理、化学和生物污染。这种方法的新颖性不仅在于对各种水污染物的可持续修复和处理，而且还增加了知识库，以提供对水处理中氧化剂释放的更全面的了解。这项研究将由两所历史上最顶尖的黑人大学--佛罗里达AM大学和北卡罗来纳A&Amt大学--合作进行，由来自工程研究领域传统上代表性较低的群体的学生和教职员工负责。拟议的工作不仅将支持在STEM领域传统上代表性不足的研究生，特别是工程学，而且它还将提供机会，帮助激励本科生在这些领域追求研究生学习和职业生涯。

1740463ClarkPresently, less than 1% of all the water on earth is freshwater readily available for human use. With increased human activities resulting in water contamination from industrial effluent, urban runoff, contaminated spills, and wastewater treatment discharges, there is a need for the development of more innovative and feasible solutions to provide sustainable methods to treat various types of contaminated water sources. This proposal seeks to develop controlled release biodegradable polymers for treatment of surface water, groundwater, and wastewater systems. The polymers will treat contaminated waters without the need for external power, equipment, or additional chemicals while only producing minimal biodegradable by-products.This project is focused on the fundamental understanding of controlled release chemical-oxidant polymers to treat various source waters. Furthermore, new oxidants will be investigated for their ability to improve and optimize this treatment delivery mechanism. The ease of implementation would be transformative for those who maintain water quality in the fields of engineering, water resources, sustainability, environmental science, and public health. The proposed research plan explores both disinfection of microorganisms and oxidation of contaminants collected in the state of Florida. The development of the controlled release biodegradable polymer will be based on a patent developed by the Co-PI and modified for treatment of physical, chemical, and biological contamination of water sources. The novelty of this method is not only in sustainable remediation and treatment of various water contaminants; but also adding to the knowledge base to provide a more comprehensive understanding of oxidant release in water treatment. The research will be a collaboration between two leading Historically Black College & Universities (HBCUs), Florida AM University and North Carolina A&T, and run by students and faculty from groups traditionally underrepresented in the engineering research field. The proposed work will not only support graduate students who are traditionally underrepresented in the STEM fields, especially engineering, but it would also provide opportunity to help inspire undergraduates to purse both graduate studies and careers in these fields.