CAREER: Manufacturing of Mesoporous Carbons by Direct Pyrolysis of Plastic Waste for Water Remediation

这项学院早期职业发展(Career)补助金专注于开发一种直接热解方法，用于有序介孔碳的可扩展制造，并释放其水修复的潜力。有序介孔碳是纳米技术和纳米制造技术进步的结果。然而，它们的传统生产面临着几个规模化的瓶颈，如溶剂消耗、可获得的孔径有限和高成本。这项研究使用低成本和广泛使用的热塑性弹性体作为起始材料，并开发了一种有效的交联法，使其能够通过热解直接转化为有序介孔碳。随着热塑性弹性体的大量消费和在各种应用中的广泛使用，它们的寿命结束代表着越来越多的环境问题。这个项目解决了热塑性弹性体废物的问题，通过将它们向上循环到功能有序的介孔碳。此外，开发了热塑性弹性体衍生的有序介孔碳用于水修复的能力，特别是与去除聚集的微污染物有关，这是环境和社会可持续发展的迫切需要。这项研究得到了一个有凝聚力的教育项目的支持和补充，包括课程开发、针对高中生和社区大学生的动手活动、课后科学项目、社区对服务不足地区的推广以及每年一次的地区性软物质研讨会。本研究的具体目标是开创和建立热塑性弹性体基嵌段共聚物的用途，通过一种简单且可扩展的磺化交联法，然后直接热解，来制备有序介孔碳。阐明了前驱体化学、制备工艺和最终材料的微观结构和性能的基本关系，为合理的系统设计提供了信息，以获得量身定制的孔结构、织构、掺杂碳骨架和材料功能。通过技术经济分析和生命周期评价，提出了一条制备有序介孔碳的技术转化途径。本研究还旨在使热塑性弹性体衍生的有序介孔碳应用于去除污染水中的微污染物聚集体，特别是关于全氟烷基物质和多氟烷基物质(PFAS)。这是通过系统地了解有序介孔碳对模型污染物的吸附机理，并通过先进的中子散射测量来阐明山梨酸盐纳米结构来实现的。这项研究确定了有序介孔碳的孔结构、织构和骨架化学如何决定其水修复性能。总而言之，这个项目建立了一条工业上可行的路线，通过交联磺化热塑性弹性体的直接热解来实现功能有序介孔碳的可规模化制造，并展示和了解它们在水修复方面的强大用途。该项目由先进制造(AM)计划、CMMI部门和既定的刺激竞争研究计划(EPSCoR)共同资助。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) grant focuses on developing a direct pyrolysis approach for scalable manufacturing of ordered mesoporous carbons and unlocking their potential for water remediation. Ordered mesoporous carbons are a result of advancements in nanotechnology and nanomanufacturing. However, their conventional manufacturing involves several bottlenecks toward scale-up, such as, solvent consumption, limited attainable pore sizes and high cost. This research employs low-cost and widely available thermoplastic elastomers as the starting materials and develops an efficient crosslinking method, allowing their direct conversion through pyrolysis to ordered mesoporous carbons. With large consumption and broad use of thermoplastic elastomers in various applications, their end-of-life represents a growing environmental concern. This project addresses the thermoplastic elastomer wastes problem by upcycling them to functional ordered mesoporous carbons. Moreover, the ability of thermoplastic elastomer-derived ordered mesoporous carbons for water remediation is developed, particularly associated with the removal of aggregated micropollutants, a pressing need for the sustainable development of the environment and society. This research is supported and complemented by a cohesive educational program, including curriculum development, hands-on activities for high school and community college students, science after school programs, community outreach to underserved areas, and annual regional soft matter symposia.The specific goal of this research is to pioneer and establish the use of thermoplastic elastomer-based block copolymers for fabricating ordered mesoporous carbons through a simple and scalable sulfonation-enabled crosslinking method, followed by direct pyrolysis. The fundamental relations of precursor chemistry, manufacturing process, and final material microstructure and properties are elucidated, informing rational system design to attain tailored pore structures, textures, doped carbon framework, and material functionalities. A technology transformation pathway towards the production of ordered mesoporous carbons is developed and informed by techno-economic analysis and life cycle assessment. This research also aims to enable the application of thermoplastic elastomer-derived ordered mesoporous carbons for removing micropollutant aggregates from polluted water, particularly concerning per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). This is accomplished by systematically understanding the sorption mechanisms of ordered mesoporous carbons against model contaminants, paired with elucidating sorbate nanostructures via advanced neutron scattering measurements. This research determines how pore structure, texture and framework chemistry of ordered mesoporous carbons dictate their water remediation performance. Collectively, this project establishes an industrially feasible route toward scalable manufacturing of functional ordered mesoporous carbons through direct pyrolysis of crosslinked sulphonated thermoplastic elastomers, in conjunction with demonstrating and understanding their robust use for water remediation.This project is jointly funded by the Advanced Manufacturing (AM) Program, the CMMI Division, and the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR).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.