I-Corps: Novel Catalytic Ozonation Processes for Advanced Water and Wastewater Treatment

这个i-Corps项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是开发等离子体增强的催化臭氧氧化创新，以提供具有成本效益的解决方案，以应对与源水中日益增长的顽固性有机污染物相关的水质挑战。光辅助催化臭氧氧化工艺的系统适应性使其成为一种具有竞争力的处理技术，既能适应当前可用的集中式基础设施，又能适应新兴的分布式/再利用设施。因此，成功的商业化努力将有助于解决一个重大的社会挑战：在人口快速增长、淡水资源短缺、气候变化、水资源受损和基础设施老化的压力下，对清洁水的需求不断增加。这个i-Corps项目基于一种创新的催化臭氧氧化工艺的开发，该工艺由等离子体金属催化剂介导，用于从水中去除顽固的有机污染物。在合成溶液和实际环境水中都实现了对典型污染物的有效降解，能耗和副产物生成都很低。这些催化剂具有优异的处理性能、原料成本低、合成方法成熟简便、可回收利用等优点，显示了等离子体强化催化臭氧氧化技术的巨大商业化潜力。据估计，到2050年，美国毗邻地区三分之一的县将面临高度缺水的风险，预计到2029年，水和废水处理技术的市场价值将达到1287.8亿美元。数千种有机化学品对水环境的污染，在常规的水和废水处理中往往无法有效去除，是一个关键的水质问题。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。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is the development of plasmon-enhanced catalytic ozonation innovations to provide a cost-effective solution to the water quality challenge associated with increasing recalcitrant organic pollutants in the source water. The system adaptability of the photo-assisted catalytic ozonation process could make it a competitive treatment technology that can accommodate to both current available centralized infrastructure and emerging distributed/reuse facilities. Thus, a successful commercialization effort will help address a significant societal challenge: increasing demand for clean water under the stress of rapid population growth, shortage of fresh water sources, climate change, impaired water sources, and aging infrastructure.This I-Corps project is based on the development of an innovation of a novel catalytic ozonation process mediated by plasmonic metal catalysts for the removal of recalcitrant organic pollutants from water. Effective degradation of representative pollutants was achieved in both synthetic solutions and real environmental waters with low energy consumption and byproduct formation. The superior treatment performance together with the low material costs, mature and facile synthesis methods, and good recyclability of the catalysts, all demonstrates the great commercialization potential of plasmon-enhanced catalytic ozonation processes. It is estimated that one-third of all counties in the contiguous U.S. will face high risk of water shortage by 2050 and a market worth of $128.78 billion is forecast for water and wastewater treatment technologies by 2029. Contamination of aquatic environment with thousands of organic chemicals, which often cannot be effectively removed in conventional water and wastewater treatment, is a key water quality problem.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.