CAREER: Manufacturing of Mesoporous Carbons by Direct Pyrolysis of Plastic Waste for Water Remediation

这项教师早期职业发展（Career）资助的重点是开发一种直接热解方法，用于有序介孔碳的规模化制造，并释放它们在水修复方面的潜力。有序介孔碳是纳米技术和纳米制造技术进步的结果。然而，它们的传统制造在扩大规模方面存在几个瓶颈，例如溶剂消耗、可达到的孔径有限和高成本。本研究采用低成本且广泛使用的热塑性弹性体作为起始材料，并开发了一种高效的交联方法，使其能够通过热解直接转化为有序的介孔碳。随着热塑性弹性体在各种应用中的大量消耗和广泛使用，它们的寿命终止代表了日益增长的环境问题。该项目通过将热塑性弹性体废物升级为功能有序的介孔碳来解决热塑性弹性体废物问题。此外，热塑性弹性体衍生有序介孔碳的水修复能力得到了发展，特别是与去除聚集微污染物有关，这是环境和社会可持续发展的迫切需要。这项研究得到了一个有凝聚力的教育项目的支持和补充，包括课程开发、高中和社区大学学生的实践活动、课后科学项目、向服务不足地区的社区推广以及年度区域软物质专题讨论会。本研究的具体目标是开拓和建立热塑性弹性体基嵌段共聚物的使用，通过简单和可扩展的磺化交联方法，然后直接热解，制造有序的介孔碳。阐明了前驱体化学、制造工艺和最终材料微观结构和性能之间的基本关系，为合理的系统设计提供了信息，以实现定制的孔隙结构、纹理、掺杂碳框架和材料功能。通过技术经济分析和生命周期评价，提出了有序介孔碳生产的技术改造途径。本研究还旨在使热塑性弹性体衍生的有序介孔碳的应用能够从受污染的水中去除微污染物聚集体，特别是关于全氟烷基和多氟烷基物质（PFAS）。这是通过系统地了解有序介孔碳对模型污染物的吸附机制，以及通过先进的中子散射测量来阐明山梨酸纳米结构来实现的。研究了有序介孔碳的孔隙结构、结构和骨架化学对其水修复性能的影响。总的来说，该项目建立了一条工业上可行的途径，通过直接热解交联磺化热塑性弹性体，实现功能有序介孔碳的规模化生产，同时展示和理解它们在水修复中的强大用途。该项目由先进制造（AM）计划、CMMI部门和促进竞争研究的既定计划（EPSCoR）共同资助。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) grant focuses on developing a direct pyrolysis approach for scalable manufacturing of ordered mesoporous carbons and unlocking their potential for water remediation. Ordered mesoporous carbons are a result of advancements in nanotechnology and nanomanufacturing. However, their conventional manufacturing involves several bottlenecks toward scale-up, such as, solvent consumption, limited attainable pore sizes and high cost. This research employs low-cost and widely available thermoplastic elastomers as the starting materials and develops an efficient crosslinking method, allowing their direct conversion through pyrolysis to ordered mesoporous carbons. With large consumption and broad use of thermoplastic elastomers in various applications, their end-of-life represents a growing environmental concern. This project addresses the thermoplastic elastomer wastes problem by upcycling them to functional ordered mesoporous carbons. Moreover, the ability of thermoplastic elastomer-derived ordered mesoporous carbons for water remediation is developed, particularly associated with the removal of aggregated micropollutants, a pressing need for the sustainable development of the environment and society. This research is supported and complemented by a cohesive educational program, including curriculum development, hands-on activities for high school and community college students, science after school programs, community outreach to underserved areas, and annual regional soft matter symposia.The specific goal of this research is to pioneer and establish the use of thermoplastic elastomer-based block copolymers for fabricating ordered mesoporous carbons through a simple and scalable sulfonation-enabled crosslinking method, followed by direct pyrolysis. The fundamental relations of precursor chemistry, manufacturing process, and final material microstructure and properties are elucidated, informing rational system design to attain tailored pore structures, textures, doped carbon framework, and material functionalities. A technology transformation pathway towards the production of ordered mesoporous carbons is developed and informed by techno-economic analysis and life cycle assessment. This research also aims to enable the application of thermoplastic elastomer-derived ordered mesoporous carbons for removing micropollutant aggregates from polluted water, particularly concerning per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). This is accomplished by systematically understanding the sorption mechanisms of ordered mesoporous carbons against model contaminants, paired with elucidating sorbate nanostructures via advanced neutron scattering measurements. This research determines how pore structure, texture and framework chemistry of ordered mesoporous carbons dictate their water remediation performance. Collectively, this project establishes an industrially feasible route toward scalable manufacturing of functional ordered mesoporous carbons through direct pyrolysis of crosslinked sulphonated thermoplastic elastomers, in conjunction with demonstrating and understanding their robust use for water remediation.This project is jointly funded by the Advanced Manufacturing (AM) Program, the CMMI Division, and the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR).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.