Description:

Using “Waste” to “Clean” Waste: Multifunctional Sponges and Membranes for Environmental Remediation 

Abstract

The rapid and global growth of modern civilization since the industrial revolution has come with the hefty price of environmental degradation and unsustainable resource consumption. On the latter part, “birth to burial” materials life-cycle analysis (LCA) and related considerations are now being adopted as an integral part of design criteria and are exciting areas of active research. The “legacy” environmental pollution, however, remains a significant challenge for remediation. The type and scale of environmental pollutants are also quite diverse, especially in aqueous systems. It ranges from mundane yet frequent and destructive oil-spills to complex agriculture nutrient runoffs into waterways. The gigaton scale of environmental pollution requires solutions that are efficient and effective, while meeting economic and engineering considerations.

The Dravid group has been developing sustainable “nanoscale solutions to gigaton challenges” of environmental remediation. We recently reported[1] a novel oil-spill remediation approach based on Oleophilic, Hydrophobic and Multifunctional (OHM) sponge[1]. OHM sponge is made by simple dip-coating of often discarded waste-foam/sponges (typically polyurethane/PU) in aqueous slurry of nanocomposite of carbon- and metal oxide-based formulation of appropriate proportion. The resultant OHM sponge can repeatable recover spilled oil many times its own weight and reused numerous times before converted into potential nanocomposite anode material for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs).

Further, by changing the sponge substrate to hydrophilic cellulose base and minor modification of the NPs, we designed a cellulose-base membrane [2] called; Phosphate Elimination And Recovery Lightweight (PEARL). PEARL can selectively sequester >99% of phosphate ions from polluted waters at environmentally relevant concentrations [2]. Moreover, mild tuning of pH promotes at-will adsorption and desorption of nutrients. This timed release allows for phosphate recovery and reuse of the PEARL membrane repeatedly for numerous cycles as tested with actual water sample from Chicago water treatment facility.  

The presentation will cover the design and development of this concept of reusable sponge/membranes for environmental remediation. The presentation will emphasize “system-level” considerations and the vital role of inter- and cross-disciplinary collaborative team approach to both, traditional and emerging environmental remediation challenges.

Bio

Vinayak P. Dravid is the Abraham Harris Chaired Professor of Materials Science & Engineering. He also serves as the founding Director of the NUANCE Center and the NSF-NNCI supported SHyNE Resource. SHyNE is the center of excellence for instrumentation/facility infrastructure in the Midwest. He received his B.Tech. from IIT Bombay in 1984 and joined Northwestern soon after his PhD from Lehigh University in 1990.

Professor Dravid’s scholarly interests revolve around nanoscience and nanotechnology for energy, health and environment. He has a diverse research portfolio covering advanced microscopy, nanotechnology, energy policy and emerging educational paradigms. His Google analytics include over 650+ archival journal publications, H-index of more than ~107, more than two dozen issued/pending patents. Some of his patents are licensed to start-up companies related to nanotechnology for environment and sensor/diagnostic systems. 

As a Clarivate Analytics’ highest cited researcher for many years, Professor Dravid’s awards/honors include Fellowships to numerous societies: inaugural class of fellows of the Microscopy Society of America (MSA) and Microanalysis Society (MAS), and Royal Microscopical Society (RMS), American Physical Society (APS), American Association for Advancement of Science (AAAS), Materials Research Society (MRS), and the American Ceramic Society (ACerS). He is the recipient of the ACerS Robert L. Coble Award as well as the joint ACerS and Japanese Ceramic Society’s Richard M. Fulrath Award, MSA’s Burton Medal, among others. He is an honorary life-member of MRS India (MRSI), and Hsuen Lee fellow of the Chinese Academy of Science. He has been elected to Northwestern’s Faculty Honor Roll for several years for excellence in teaching. 

Professor Dravid has served as advisor and consultant to metrology, energy/petrochemical companies, IP firms, the Chicago museums. He advises NGOs, professional society outreach programs, international organizations and private sector about science, technology and policy. One of his passions is to enhance societal and global appreciation for science and technology, especially energy, environment and sustainability through the lens of microscopy and nanotechnology.