CAS: Ultrafast Affinity Extraction - Fundamental Studies and Use in Environmental Applications

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With support from the Chemical Measurement and Imaging Program in the Division of Chemistry, Professor David Hage and his group at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln are working to advance our ability to monitor chemicals in the environment, including chemicals of importance to national health. Specifically, new microscale methods are being developed. These methods make it possible to study and analyze chemical systems that cannot be easily examined by other techniques, providing new information on the behavior, transport, and biological activity of pharmaceuticals and other man-made agents. Students working with these innovative methods are receiving interdisciplinary training in chemical analysis, chemical separations, and environmental analysis. Curricular materials on microscale separation methods and environmental analysis are also being developed by Professor Hage for the further training of students within and beyond the field of chemical separations.The overall goal of this project is to develop and utilize new high-performance separation methods based on ultrafast affinity extraction to characterize chemical interactions of species with weak-to-moderate binding strengths. These interactions are important in determining the transport and activity of many man-made agents in the environment and in biological systems. The approach begins with simulations and analysis of model systems to identify suitable ultrafast affinity extraction conditions for measuring the non-bound chemical fractions and for use in binding or rate studies. The derived conditions are then applied to examine the binding in “real” applications (e.g., binding of common pharmaceuticals with dissolved organic matter, such as humic acids, found in water). Finally, results are used to develop new formats of ultrafast affinity extraction to increase the information content and capabilities of this method in binding and rate studies.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.