CAREER: Integrating Research and Education on Arsenic Removal from Drinking Water

砷是一种有毒致癌的金属，对人类健康构成重大威胁。满足美国环保局新标准的潜在高成本要求开发更具成本效益的除砷方法。这项职业计划的研究目标是开发一种使用铁基材料(IBM)作为吸着剂的膜强化吸附的创新除砷工艺。假设膜诱导的浓差极化效应将使砷物种集中在浓差极化层，且砷浓度越高，铁基材料对砷的吸附越大。建议的系统可显著节省砷处理的成本，因为较少使用化学品，两次反冲洗之间的操作时间较长，以及需要处理和处置的废物较少。将完成实验和建模工作，以选择最合适的膜和颗粒铁基材料，并将优化实验室规模的试点系统，以有效地去除砷和进行成本分析。综合职业教育活动将通过综合教学-研究-课程开发计划，重点是为新墨西哥州提供K-12科学教师培训。在新墨西哥州，迫切需要为那些来自科学和工程领域历史上代表性不足的群体的人或那些教授这些群体的学生的人提供科学教师培训。由于科学和工程最好是通过实践和探究式体验教授给K-12科学教师和他们的学生，因此关于砷测量和治疗的实验室和实地项目将作为该计划的一部分实施。此外，新墨西哥理工大学的少数族裔本科生和研究生比例很高。虽然所有学生都将从参与研究中受益，但职业支持将为历史上代表性不足的少数族裔学生提供亟需的科学和工程研究机会。

Arsenic is a toxic and carcinogenic metalloid that presents a major human health threat. The potentially very high cost of meeting the new U. S. Environmental Protection Agency standard necessitates the development of more cost-effective methods for arsenic removal.The research objective of this CAREER proposal is to develop an innovative arsenic removal process using membrane-enhanced sorption with iron-based materials (IBM) as sorbents. The hypothesis is that membrane-induced concentration polarization effects will concentrate arsenic species in the concentration polarization layer and the higher arsenic concentration will result in more sorption onto an iron-based material. The proposed system could result in significant cost savings for arsenic treatment due to less chemical use, prolonged operation between backwashes, and less wastes for handling and disposal. Experimental and modeling work will be completed in order to select the most suitable membrane and a particulate iron-based material, and a bench-scale pilot system will be optimized for effective arsenic removal and cost analysis.The integrated CAREER educational activities focus on K-12 science teacher training for the State of New Mexico through an integrated teaching-research-curriculum development program. Science teacher training for those from historically underrepresented groups in science and engineering or those who teach students from those groups is critically needed in New Mexico. Since science and engineering are best taught to the K-12 science teachers and their students through hands-on, inquiry-based experiences, laboratory and field projects on arsenic measurement and treatment will be implemented as part of the program. In addition, New Mexico Tech has a high percentage of minority undergraduate and graduate students. While all students would benefit form research participation, the CAREER support will provide historically underrepresented minority students with critically-needed research opportunities in science and engineering.