Electrospun Nanofibres and Porous Beads from Sustainable Modified Biomaterials: a Promising Solution for Removal of Emerging Contaminants in Wastewater

背景和理由-污水的处理正成为加拿大水资源可持续性面临的日益重要的挑战。新出现的污染物（ECs）在处理和人类排泄后进入废物流，并且不能通过传统的废水处理有效地去除，威胁着人类健康和水生生物。对高级处理（如臭氧化）产生的副产物（PBs）也观察到类似的限制。因此，目前迫切需要一种有效的污染物环境修复技术。这种最需要的技术的能源效率和它的低环境指纹同样非常重要。作为上述问题的解决方案，本研究计划的目标是开发低成本的“绿色”吸附生物材料，使用纳米纤维和多孔微珠，提供大的比表面积和多功能性的保留选择，这取决于要去除的ec。这些创新的生物吸附剂，大规模生产，用于水处理和回收，将彻底改变废水处理对环境的影响。本研究项目的长期目标是研究开发的材料在不同环境基质（如地表水、城市污水）中对目标ec和bp的吸附潜力。之后，必须实现几个里程碑，包括设计，优化和最终评估适合可能扩展到工业规模的新原型。为了解决当前的需求，我们将研究两种不同的途径，分别用于合成用于水净化目的的新型电纺纳米纤维和改性生物材料的多孔微珠。因此，开发和优化一种基于合成的、量身定制的生物材料的创新处理技术，以从水基质中显著去除或减少某些选定的ECs。为了确保研究计划的基本方面，我们希望实现以下短期目标：目标1：通过静电纺丝工艺开发和表征新型纳米纤维。目的2：开发和表征静电挤压法制备的新型多孔微珠。目的3：表征臭氧处理后的ECs副产物（bp），并评价bp在新型吸附剂上的吸附性能。

CONTEXT AND RATIONALE - The treatment of polluted water is becoming an increasingly relevant challenge for Canada's water resources sustainability. Emerging contaminants (ECs) enter the waste stream after disposal and human excretion and are not removed efficiently by conventional wastewater treatments, threatening the human health and aquatic organisms. Similar limitations are observed of by-products (PBs) caused by advanced treatments (e.g. ozonation). Consequently, an efficient technology for environmental remediation of the pollutants is currently a critical need. Energy efficiency of this most needed technology and its low environmental fingerprint is of equally high importance. As solution to the outlined problems, the goal of this research program is to develop low cost "green" adsorbent biomaterials using nanofibres and porous beads that offer large specific surface area and versatility in the choice of retention sought, depending on the ECs to be removed. These innovative biosorbents, manufactured at large-scale, used and recycled for water treatment, will revolutionizing the environmental impact of wastewater treatment. OBJECTIVES - The long-term objective of this research program is focused on the adsorption potential of the developed materials for targeted ECs and BPs in different environmental matrices (e.g. surface water, urban effluent). Afterwards, several milestones will have to be achieved, including the design, optimization, and finally the evaluation of new prototypes suitable for a possible expansion to an industrial scale. In order to address the immediate needs, we will investigate two different routes leading respectively to the synthesis of novel electrospun nanofibres and porous beads from modified biomaterials for water purification purposes. Hence, the development and optimization of an innovative treatment technology based on synthetized, tailor-made biomaterials is undertaken to remove or reduce significantly some selected ECs from aqueous matrices. The following short-term objectives that we want to achieve to ensure the fundamental aspect of the research program are: Objective 1:Develop and characterize new nanofibres by electrospinning process. Objective 2:Develop and characterize new porous beads synthetized by electrostatic extrusion process. Objective 3:Characterize ECs by-products (BPs) after ozone treatment and evaluate sorption of BPs on new adsorbents.