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

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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.