Novel Fiber Scaffolding for Effective Removal of Diverse Hazardous Chemicals from Water

 描述(申请人提供)：该SBIR项目开发的水处理产品将使更多的人有机会过上更健康的生活，并通过增加可用的水资源来加强社区。饮用水污染是一个古老的问题。近几十年来，作为人为毒素(药品、增塑剂、农药、消毒剂副产品等)的有机化学品对地下水和饮用水的污染日益引起世界各国的关注。继续通过废水、农业径流、暴雨、空气污染和受污染的土壤进入世界上的饮用水水库。通过饮用水接触这些毒素正在导致慢性、复杂的疾病；其负担主要落在社会经济上处于不利地位的社区。为了保护世界人口的健康，必须消除饮用水中的有机化学物质。传统的吸附技术结构复杂，不能同时去除多种复杂的化学物质。其他净化技术(即反渗透膜和羟基自由基)未能提供一种简单和成本效益高的方法来去除饮用水供应中目前存在的各种有机化学品。在价值30亿美元的美国居民治疗市场上，缺少的是一种简单且成本效益高的POU产品，适用于各种难以去除和剧毒的痕量有机化学品。通过这一SBIR项目，Chemica旨在为水处理/净化领域带来一种及时的新工具，以易于使用和负担得起的方式专门针对难以去除的污染物。这将通过将Chemica专有的表面改性技术应用于坚固的碳纤维基材来实现。Chemica的新型纤维很容易伸缩，可以根据用户的特定需求进行定制。该SBIR计划的目标是生产一种原型模块化滤芯，其中包含一种坚固耐用的吸附剂，与现有的吸附剂相比，其吸附速度快5倍，与替代净水技术相比，其生命周期成本更低。这将通过以下具体目标来实现：第一阶段特定目标1.功能化纤维组件与传统净水器的比较第二阶段特定目标1.功能化纤维吸附剂第二阶段特定目标2.设计和制造容纳纤维吸附剂第二阶段特定目标的原型组件3.真实世界中纤维吸附剂和组件的性能表征关键词：饮用水、新污染物、毒性、吸附剂、碳、药品、增塑剂、农药、消毒剂副产品、配位化学、有机化学、挥发性有机化合物、分离

 DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The water treatment product developed in this SBIR program will give more people the opportunity to live healthier lives and strengthen communities by increasing available water resources. The contamination of drinking water is an age-old problem. In recent decades, the pollution of ground and drinking water by organic chemicals has attracted increasing attention all over the world as man-made toxins (pharmaceuticals, plasticizers, pesticides, disinfectant by-products, etc.) continue to enter the worlds' drinking water reservoirs via wastewater, agricultural runoff, storm water, air pollution, and polluted soil. Exposure to these toxins through drinking water is leading to chronic, complex diseases; the burden of which falls primarily on socioeconomically disadvantaged communities. Removal of organic chemicals from drinking water is imperative to protect the health of the world's populations. Traditional adsorption technologies do not have the structural sophistication to allow for the simultaneous removal of multiple complex chemicals. Other purification technologies (i.e. reverse osmosis membranes and hydroxyl radicals) have failed to provide a simple and cost-effective means to remove the wide spectrum of organic chemicals now found in drinking water supplies. What's missing from the $3B US residential treatment market is a simple and cost effective POU product for the wide spectrum of difficult to remove and highly toxic trace organic chemicals. Through this SBIR project, Chemica aims to bring a timely new tool to the field of water treatment/purification that specifically targets difficult to remove contaminants in an easy-to-use and affordable manner. This will be achieved through applying Chemica's proprietary surface modification techniques to a robust carbon fiber substrate. Chemica's novel fiber is easily scalable and can be tailored to meet users' specific needs. The goal for this SBIR program is to produce a prototype modular cartridge containing a robust adsorbent with 5x faster adsorption rates over existing adsorbents and lower lifecycle costs compared to alternative water purification technologies. This will be achieved through the following Specific Aims: PHASE I Specific Aim 1. Comparison of Functionalized Fiber Modules with Conventional Water Purifiers PHASE II Specific Aim 1. Optimization and Large-Scale Production of Functionalized Fiber Adsorbent PHASE II Specific Aim 2. Design and Manufacture of Prototype Module to House the Fiber Adsorbent PHASE II Specific Aim 3. Performance Characterization of the Fiber Adsorbent and Module in the Real World Key words: drinking water, emerging contaminants, toxicity, adsorbent, carbon, pharmaceuticals, plasticizers, pesticides, disinfectant by-products, coordination chemistry, organic chemistry, VOC, separation