CAREER: Hybrid Nanostructures as Catalysts for Advanced Oxidation Processes: An Integrated Research and Education Plan Promoting Water Reuse and Sustainability

这是一个挑战，干旱地区，如南部加州开发和维护一个可靠的家庭饮用水供应鉴于预计人口增长的地区和目前透支地下水盆地，干旱和气候变化，预计到2050年将减少40%的塞拉利昂积雪。 在加州，这将需要增加城市废水的处理和再利用，其中大部分含有过多的有机污染物，如激素，药物和内分泌干扰化合物。 这项研究实施了一种新的方法来捕获和无害这些化合物，探索功能化的碳纳米管作为可调臭氧化催化剂降解这些和其他有机污染物的潜力。 这种方法的好处是纳米管可以被用作活性过滤器和膜。 该研究的主要目标是产生结构-活性关系，以指导未来用于水净化的杂化纳米材料的设计。 为了实现这一目标，功能化的碳纳米管和混合纳米结构在其本体结构和形态，化学组成，表面化学和溶液相稳定性方面的合成和详细表征将使用各种最先进的工具，如XPS和ATR-FTIR。 表征之后将在封闭的间歇式反应器系统中使用一系列与水和废水处理相关的模型污染物和化学物质进行反应性和性能测试。 性能测试包括检查基质化学的影响，纳米材料在去除污水中有机物方面的有效性，减轻氧化副产物，以及从二级污水中去除溶解的有机碳。 更广泛的影响包括以提供更可靠、安全和可持续的供水的形式带来的社会效益。 它将支持一个早期的职业教师和培训博士生在主办机构和一个社区学院的学生从附近的西班牙裔服务机构，加州理工大学波莫纳。学生将参与多学科研究，促进对负责任的开发和使用纳米材料的赞赏。 将努力从传统上在STEM领域代表性不足的群体中招收学生，以促进科学和技术劳动力的更大多样性。 项目成果将被纳入两个本科课程与纳米技术主要在加州大学滨江分校，并将传播到其他加州校园的大学。该项目还将开展一项外联方案，以提高公众对区域和全球水危机的认识和理解。

It is a challenge for arid regions like southern California to develop and maintain a reliable domestic drinking water supply in light of projected population increases in the regions and presently overdrawn groundwater basins, drought, and climate change which is slated to reduce the Sierra snowpack by 40% by 2050. In California, this will require an increase in the treatment and reuse of municipal wastewater, much of which contains a plethora of organic pollutants such as hormones, pharmaceuticals, and endocrine-disrupting compounds. This research implements a novel approach to trapping and rendering harmless these compounds by exploring the potential of functionalized carbon nanotubes as tunable ozonation catalysts to degrade these and other organic pollutants. The benefit of this approach is that the nanotubes can be functioned into activated filters and membranes. A main goal of the research is to generate structure-activity relations to guide future design of hybrid nanomaterials for water purification. To achieve this, synthesis and detailed characterization of the functionalized carbon nanotubes and hybrid nanostructures in terms of their bulk structure and morphology, chemical composition, surface chemistry, and solution phase stability will be carried out using a wide array of state-of-the-art tools such as XPS and ATR-FTIR. Characterization will be followed by reactivity and performance testing in closed batch reactor systems using a range of model pollutants and chemistries relevant to water and wastewater treatment. Performance testing includes examination of the influence of matrix chemistry, how effective the nanomaterials are in removing organic matter in the effluent, mitigation of oxidation bi-products, and removal of dissolved organic carbon from secondary effluents. The broader impacts include societal benefits in the form of providing more reliable, safe, and sustainable water supplies. It will support an early career faculty member and train doctoral students at the host institution and one community college student from nearby Hispanic Serving Institution, Cal Poly Pomona. Students will be engaged in multi-disciplinary research that fosters an appreciation for the responsible development and use of nanomaterials. Efforts will be made to recruit students from groups traditionally under-represented in STEM fields to promote greater diversity in the science and technology workforce. Project outcomes will be incorporated into two undergraduate courses associated with the Nanotechnology major at the University of California, Riverside and will be disseminated to other University of California campuses. The project will also carry out an outreach program to raise public awareness and understanding of regional and global water crises.