NSF2026: EAGER: Nitrogen Bearing Hydrochars For Nitrogen Upcycling in a World without Waste

2032590(擦过蒂姆科)。在CBET/ENG环境可持续性项目和综合活动办公室的NSF 2026基金项目的支持下，伍彻斯特理工学院的Michael Timko和Aaron Deskins教授以及布兰代斯大学的Klais schmitt - rohr教授正在进行一项研究项目，旨在阐明n -水合物的结构，并为特定应用的n -水合物设计提供合理的基础。n-碳氢化合物是通过水热处理食物垃圾、牲畜粪便和污水污泥等废物形成的含氮富碳物质。n -碳氢化合物在许多方面都有潜在的用途，包括作为土壤改良剂、吸附剂和催化剂。项目的成功将有助于向NSF2026 Idea Machine获奖项目“没有浪费的世界”的目标迈进。n -碳氢化合物目前面临的一个挑战是其复杂和未知的结构。由明确的前体合成的同位素标记的n -碳氢化合物的核磁共振将用于鉴定和量化n -碳氢化合物的结构亚基。项目团队预计这些亚基将是呋喃、芳烃，可能还有含n的杂环，用胺和羧酸侧链修饰烷基连接体。量子化学计算将用于模拟这些亚基的振动，从而开发可用于n -碳氢化合物表征的拉曼方法。然后将从食物垃圾中合成更复杂的碳氢化合物。在模型和复杂碳氢化合物上测量重金属吸附等温线。量子化学计算将使用先前确定的N-碳氢化合物亚基进行，这些结果将首先用于使测量趋势合理化，然后改进以提供预测能力，将结果推广到不同类型的N-碳氢化合物和不同金属阳离子的吸附。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

2032590 (Timko). With support from the CBET/ENG Environmental Sustainability program and the NSF 2026 Fund Program in the Office of Integrated Activities, Professors Michael Timko and Aaron Deskins at Worchester Polytechnic Institute, and Professor Klais Schmift-Rohr at Brandeis University are engaging in a research project that is targeted to elucidate the structure of N-hydrochars and provide a rational basis for design of N-hydrochars for specific applications. N-hydrochars are nitrogen-bearing carbon-rich materials formed by hydrothermal treatment of wastes, such as food waste, livestock manure, and sewage sludge. N-hydrochars are potentially useful for many applications, including as soil amendments, adsorbents, and catalysts. Project success will help to advance toward the goal of the NSF2026 Idea Machine winning entry of a "World without Waste."A current challenge to the use of N-hydrochars is their complex and unknown structure. NMR of isotopically labeled N-hydrochars synthesized from well- defined precursors will be used to identify and quantify N-hydrochar structural sub-units. The project team anticipates that these sub-units will be furans, arenes, and possibly N-bearing heterocycles, with alkyl linkers decorated with amine and carboxylate side chains. Quantum chemical calculations will be used to simulate the vibrations of these sub-units, enabling development of a Raman method that can be used for N-hydrochar characterization. More complex hydrochars will then be synthesized from food waste. Heavy metal sorption isotherms will be measured on model and complex hydrochars. Quantum chemical calculations will be performed using the previously identified N- hydrochar sub-units and these results will be used first to rationalize measured trends and then refined to provide predictive capabilities to generalize results to different types of N-hydrochars and for sorption of different metal cations.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.