Poly (N-isopropylacrylamide) based materials for removing harmful ions from water

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Poly (N-isopropylacrylamide) (pNIPAm)-based hydrogel particles can be synthesized to be on the order of 100 nm - 2000 nm in diameter. These particles, frequently referred to as nanogels or microgels (depending on their diameter) are water soluble and uniquely respond to increases in the temperature of the water they are dissolved in by shrinking in diameter. This specific temperature is ~32 °C, and the nanogels re-expand upon lowering the water temperature to below 32 °C. Additionally, these particles are highly porous; slightly hydrophobic, which makes them good sorbents for organic molecules; and have a high concentration of free electrons, for binding to various metal ions. This investigation will focus on characterizing pNIPAm-based nanogel ability to remove a variety of ions from water. The goal will be to gain enough of an understanding of this system such that we can target specific ions with tailor made nanogels. We are well positioned in the lab to scale this process up due to the unique facilities available to us at the Oil Sands Tailing Research Facility in Devon, Alberta. I am able to apply for research space at this facility, which will allow for large-scale experiments to take place. We will design pNIPAm-based nanogels that: 1) Remove ions composed of (but not limited to) Na, Ca, Al, Pb, Cd, As, Cr, Cu, Fe, Hg, Zn from water impacted by oil extraction processes. 2) Are able to undergo treatment to extract the contaminants from the polymer. 3) Can be reused (recycled) after the extraction treatment.