Pedro J.J. Alvarez - US grants

0224561 Alvarez Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are ubiquitous pollutants that can bioaccumulate and can be acutely toxic. Some plants can enhance the degradation of PAHs by stimulating microbiological activity in the root zone (rhizosphere) of plants.
This phytoremediation is an attractive process where climatic conditions are favorable as in the tropics. Root exudates from tropical plants will be screened for their ability to enhance PAH degradation and the mechanism of enhancement studied. The humification and sequestration of PAHs into soil will be examined as an acceptable low-cost treatment.

In this project funded by the Americas Program of the Office of International Science and Engineering and the Environmental Engineering Program in the Division of Bioengineering and Environmental Systems, Dr. Pedro J. Alvarez of Rice University will organize a workshop on the theme of "Emerging Solutions to Environmental Problems in the Caribbean" held the week of May 17, 2004 in Cartagena, Colombia. Foreign organizers of the workshop include Henry Mauri of Corporacion Universitaria de la Costa, Barranquilla, Colombia. The workshop aims to facillitate interaction of U.S. researchers with environmental engineers in Latin American countries and focuses on topics of considerable importance to solving environmental problems in the Caribbean. Among these topics are water quality issues and ecological engineering, eutrophication control and nutrient removal, alternative drinking water and wastewater treatment approaches, and hazardous waste management and site cleanup. This meeting will take place after CONCARIBE-2004, which is an international conference that joins technologies, methods and ideas to solve environmental problems in South American countries.

The U.S. and neighboring Latin American countries in the Caribbean face a large and growing number of environmental problems that threaten public health and biodiversity. This workshop will help build bridges for collaborations with Latin American scientists and engineers working on sustainable solutions to environmental problems in the Caribbean. Although some approaches appropriate for the Caribbean may not be implementable in the U.S. due to constraints associated with a higher degree of development, many solutions will point the way to solving similar environmental problems in the U.S. itself. The interactions among participants of this workshop are also likely to result in improved technology transfer and in opportunities for research and international experience for U.S. students and young researchers who will also attend.

The planning proposal is to enable the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering at Rice University to connect concepts in engineering courses to critical practices in the communities in which engineers work and live. The objectives are: 1) to provide a rigorous, coherent curriculum that enables students to gain a strong understanding of biological, physical, and social systems that affect engineering research and practice; 2) to increase students' understanding of and hand-on experience with emerging and leading-edge technologies and engineering practices; 3) to provide all students with opportunities for international service learning experiences focusing on complex engineering problems that occur in diverse cultural and social situations; 4) to increase students' understanding of and experience with complex engineering projects involving sustainability; 5) to improve students' written, oral, visual, and interpersonal communication strategies and skills, especially in collaboration and teamwork; 6) to provide a department culture that is gender balanced and demonstrates cultural as well as racial/ethnic diversity; 7) to integrate teaching and research in ways that benefit both students and teachers; 8) to provide innovative assessment opportunities, including an Engineering and Communication Portfolio and strategies for self- and peer assessment. As a result, students will develop superior technical skills that go hand in hand with social and environmental responsibilities. Faculty will design an innovative program that integrates emerging technologies, international perspectives, sustainability, communication, and culture into engineering. Learning, teaching, research, and workplace practices will be treated synergistically.

0508207 Wiesner Understanding the bio-reactivity of fullerenes, which are C60 nano materials, is important because of the many applications for which these nanomaterials are being considered. Fullerenes are known to have a high electron affinity and high reactivity with nucleophiles. They may serve as photosensitizers to produce reactive oxygen species such as hydroxyl radicals, superoxide radical anions, and peroxyl species, all of which are highly bio-reactive species. The potential biological effects of fullerenes that could result from these characteristics are not well understood. They may cause a wide variety of toxic effects to various organisms, but they also have the potential to be developed into engineering strategies to control biofouling or disinfect water. This project is studying the chemistry of reactive oxygen production by fullerene-based nanomaterials in the context of assessing the associated effects of fullerenes on bacteria and viruses. Specifically, the investigators are evaluating three hypotheses: (1) that fullerenes can act photocatalytically or through dark reactions to produce reactive oxygen species that inhibit or inactivate microbial growth; (2) that the reactive oxygen species formed from fullerenes hinder heterotrophic and photosynthetic activities and cause population shifts reflecting differential responses and protective mechanisms used by different species; and (3) that oxidative stress of cell membranes through peroxidation and epoxidation of phospholipids is an important mechanism responsible for cell death.

A workshop for young faculty who are potential submitters of CAREER, research, and other education proposals to NSF will be conducted in connection with the 2005 conference of the Association of Environmental Engineering and Science Professors. The workshop and associated conference will be held at Clarkson University in Potsdam, New York. The workshop will address issues of research and education in an informal setting and will be coordinated by three former NSF CAREER awardees: Pedro Alvarez (Rice University), Susan Powers (Clarkson University) and Andria Costello (Syracuse University). Presentations also will be made by former NSF staff and by senior faculty leaders in the environmental engineering academic community. The workshop will engage young and more senior members of the BES and AEESP academic communities in a meaningful and focused dialogue that will hone the research design and presentation skills of the participants.

ABSTRACT

CBET-0729700
Pedro Alvarez
Rice University

Correlation between Biomarker Concentrations and Hydrocarbon
Biodegradation Rates to Enhance the Selection and Performance
Assessment of Bioremediation and Natural Attenuation


This two-year exploratory project will examine genetic biomarkers for hydrocarbon degradation under anaerobic conditions. The project will test the reliability of various genetic biomarkers to quantitatively query for the presence of specific degraders of aromatic hydrocarbons (benzene, toluene, xylene (BTX)), and use this information to estimate degradation rates and their spatial variability in contaminated ground-water environments. The proposed research addresses a very problematic pollutant, benzene, which drives remediation costs and decisions at many sites. The correlation of genetic markers with first-order degradation rates could yield a powerful tool for project management?a faster and less expensive method to assess the potential for natural attenuation of important aromatic hydrocarbon pollutants in contaminated aquifers.

CBET-0723039 Gonzalez The use of proteomics tools in the projects described in this proposal will generate fundamental knowledge and facilitate applications ranging from the production of biofuels
to the discovery of novel pharmaceuticals. The establishment of this facility will also foster
interdisciplinary interactions and enhance both research and education in natural sciences and engineering. This facility will provide much needed proteomics capabilities to Rice researchers and to external users, which, in turn, will promote collaborations with other institutions. The latter is already taking place: two faculty members at the University of Houston and Prairie View A&M University are participating in the proposal. Prairie View A&M University is a minority-serving institution and as such the proposed facility will attract researchers and students from underrepresented groups pursuing advanced degrees in science and engineering, and will improve the quality of their research training. The facility will play a key educational role by training undergraduate and graduate students and postdoctoral research associates in cutting-edge techniques in systems biology.

CBET- 0829158
Alvarez

Rapid industrial scale production, coupled with unique material properties, underpin rising concerns of engineered nano-scale materials inadvertently impacting the health and function of natural systems. Carbon based nano-scale materials such as fullerenes and nanotubes in particular have been proposed for a variety of applications and are on track to be produced at industrial scales. Building a fundamental, quantitative understanding of material behavior in natural and engineered systems allows for accurate predictive behavior models which are critical for material life cycle assessment(s) necessary for risk mitigation and sustainability. Of particular interest is the biological interface at which these materials may interact as biologically mediated transformations of fullerenes could significantly influence their mobility, bioavailability, reactivity, toxicity and overall environmental impact. Yet, to date, no systematic evaluations of fullerene biotransformation has been conducted. They will seek to evaluate the susceptibility of aqueous available fullerene species to biochemical transformations and their biological significance. Specifically, they will: (1) characterize the rates and byproducts of biotransformation through, in part, the use of radio labeled P14PCB60B, (2) determine how biotransformation affects the toxicity of CB60B, and (3) quantify the bioavailability and bioaccumulation potential of P14PCB60B and its byproducts through model earthworm systems. They will test the hypotheses that: 1) CB60B can be oxidized by non-specific enzyme systems such as manganese peroxidase, which is involved in complex carbon macromolecules degradation via radical (OH) attack, and/or by other enzymes produced by cellulytic fungi or bacteria that degrade recalcitrant compounds; and (2) such biotransformations will decrease the toxicity and bioaccumulation potential of CB60B, but may increase its solubility and bioavailability. Using chemically unique CB60B with differential isotopic signatures, biotransformation investigations will be conducted with cell free (e.g. purified manganese peroxidase which catalyzes non-specific radical (OH) oxidation), and with whole cell, in vivo cultures of cellulytic fungi, PAH-degrading mixed cultures, and PAH-degrading pure cultures. Reaction kinetics and products will be characterized by a battery of analyses (Radiochromatography (HPLC), P13PC-NMR, MALDI-MS, UV/Vis, Scintillation Counting, among others). Corresponding toxicity studies will measure microbial heterotrophic activity before and after exposure to water available CB60B and bio-transformed derivatives. Bioaccumulation and availability of both C60 and corresponding derivatives will be evaluated through whole organism (model earthworm systems) and biomimetic sorbent experiments similar to previous studies done with polyaromatic hydrocarbons.

This work responds to calls for reliable data on nanoparticle behavior in the environment that have come from environmental advocacy groups, the emerging nanotechnology industry and the regulatory community. Understanding how biotransformation affects the behavior of engineered nanomaterials in the environment is important to ensure that nanotechnology improves material and social conditions without exceeding the ecological capabilities that support them. Furthermore, students on this project will gain valuable interdisciplinary and collaborative experience with applications of nanochemistry and environmental engineering. This project will strengthen the nation?s research and human resource base in an emerging need area where qualified researchers are in short supply, and will contribute to the development of nanotechnology as a tool for sustainability rather than as an environmental liability.

0903936
Kulinowski

Rice University will host an international workshop on environmental nanotechnology, to contribute towards a sound, science-based document that identifies the tools and practices needed to assess and mitigate the potential impacts of engineered nanoparticles (NPs) in the environment and inform eco-responsible design and disposal. This workshop, tentatively scheduled for March 9-10, 2009, will be partially sponsored by the British Consulate General-Houston, the TX-UK Collaborative, and the International Council on Nanotechnology. The workshop will address issues of research & education in a meaningful and focused dialogue through an integrated experience that will provide valuable mentorship and international networking opportunities to emerging leaders in this rapidly growing field. The goal of this workshop is to distill information on environmental impacts of NPs into a format that can
direct research efforts toward the most critical issues in the next five to ten years and lead to methodologies to predict their environmental impacts.

As governments overcome barriers to international collaboration, new funding streams are becoming available to researchers interested in engaging with their counterparts abroad. Therefore the workshop will have an explicit emphasis on stimulating trans-Atlantic and trans-Pacific research collaboration and will recruit talented junior faculty to the workshop, both to benefit from their fresh perspectives and to connect them with potential collaborators here in the US and abroad.

The extrinsic merit of this workshop emanates from its design and participation. This workshop will engage members of the environmental, toxicological, nanotechnology and legal communities in a meaningful and focused dialogue through a unique, integrated, and holistic experience. This experience will foster dialogue among diverse participants around the most pressing questions related to understanding the impacts of engineered NPs. The broader impacts will result from the active engagement of the workshop's participants. This engagement will enhance and strengthen the opportunities for and interest in international, interdisciplinary collaboration on NPs and the environment. In addition, the workshop will provide a solid foundation for the academic communitys future collaboration in research and education programs, projects, and activities at greater and closer levels than was previously possible. The proposed work will have substantial benefit to society by providing current, high quality information on environmental health and safety of nanomaterials which will enable the development and implementation of sound risk management practices.

0933219/0932872
Alvarez/Kim

It is well known that C60 (buckminsterfullerene) and some of its functionalized derivatives can photochemically produce reactive oxygen species such as singlet oxygen and superoxide. This conversion of light energy to oxidizing power has been extensively studied and applied for photocatalytic organic synthesis and photodynamic therapy. Although fullerene-based photocatalysis is also a promising sustainable approach for water treatment, such aqueous phase applications have been limited by the difficulty to make C60 accessible to target pollutants in water, since pristine C60 is virtually nonwettable. Even if C60 is rendered water soluble (for example, by functional derivatization), it is challenging to prevent C60 release to product water and recycle it for prolonged use. The overarching objective of the proposed research is to overcome the above limitations and develop environmentally benign C60-based photocatalysts for water and wastewater treatment and reuse. They plan to achieve this goal by immobilizing photoactive form of C60 onto easily recoverable support materials via covalent bonding. Specific research objectives include: 1) developing new and enhancing existing methods to immobilize C60 and selected functionalized C60 onto support material surfaces; 2) quantifying their photochemical reactivity, mainly related to 1O2 production, as a function of support substrate and water chemistry; and 3) evaluating these novel photosensitizers for degradation of selected organic contaminants and inactivation of a representative microorganism.

They hypothesize that: 1) chemical attachment of C60 and C60 derivatives to polymeric surface is achievable without any significant loss in photochemical activity for 1O2 production which originates from C60s cage structure; 2) C60 based catalyst will exhibit minimal reduction of photocatalytic activity after prolonged use due to the chemical stability of C60, and 3) immobilization via covalent bonding will minimize catalyst release to environment and enhance recycling. Validity of these hypotheses forms a foundation for developing an innovative C60-based photocatalysis process.

This is a two-institution collaboration that brings together expertise in photoactive nanomaterial synthesis, fundamental photochemistry, and photocatalyst application for oxidative degradation of organic contaminants and inactivation of microorganisms. They will initially employ selected homogenized and immobilized forms of tetrakis- and hexakis-C60 adducts with carboxylic, hydroxyl, and amine moieties. Specific tasks include: 1) syntheses of water-soluble functionalized C60, C60(or derivatized C60)-coated beads, and C60 (or derivatized C60)-incorporated polymer; 2) characterization of photochemical properties of these materials with focus on kinetics and mechanisms of 1O2 production using wet-chemical method, electron spin resonance (ESR) trapping technique, and laser flash photolysis (LFP); and 3) kinetics and mechanistic studies on photocatalytic oxidation of selected organic pollutants and inactivation of representative microorganisms (bacteria and virus). This is one of the first attempts to apply fullerene-based photocatalysis in environmental engineering. They are motivated by the unique properties of C60, including 1) exceptional photocatalytic activity, 2) ability to use visible light for photoexcitation, and 3) chemical stability. Immobilization of C60 is conducive to prevention of secondary contamination and facilitating recycle and reuse, which will encourage further research on applications of fullerene-based photocatalysis. For example, surface immobilized C60 could be applied for antibacterial surface synthesis or air purification. Fundamental understanding gained on how the photocatalytic properties of fullerenes change upon attachment and bactericidal mechanisms will also be important to inform ecotoxicological risk assessment.

Ensuring access to inexpensive and clean sources of water is one of the greatest global challenges of this century. Nanotechnology offers opportunities to leapfrog over traditional infrastructure-intensive technologies to develop more sustainable approaches for water management. This project has a great potential to develop safe, easy to implement, and reusable C60-based photocatalysts that require only sunlight for water remediation and reuse. Results will be broadly disseminated in publications and integrated into undergraduate and graduate courses. They will also train students in an emerging area where qualified professionals are in short supply. These students will gain interdisciplinary and collaborative experience with applications of nanochemistry, photochemistry and environmental engineering.

The sustainable and responsible development of nanotechnology requires an integrated and proactive strategy to recognize and assess possible material risks to workers, consumers and the environment. Such data can be used to both minimize unintended consequence of engineered nanomaterial (ENP) exposures as well as to accelerate innovation by enabling safe nanomaterial design, use and disposal practices. This strategy requires that research into nanotechnology risk(s) be as broad and far-reaching as the possible applications of nanotechnology itself. Rapid developments in research and industrial production of advanced materials at the nanoscale have increased the potential for such technologies to impact the environment. To appropriately address this broad issue, it is critical to understand the impact and role of plant and nanomaterial interactions. Plants are critical species in the ecosystem, and the history of environmental science makes apparent the diverse ways in which they can influence environmental impact. When plants are affected by foreign substances, corresponding consequences to ecosystem health are wide ranging. Furthermore, plants can concentrate, passivate and even degrade contaminants through specific and nonspecific biochemical processes.

Researchers will study the interactions between engineered nanoscale materials (ENM) and plants. Such data is critical for accurate life cycle(s) and ecosystem risk(s) assessments, both of which are the foundation for sustainable nanotechnology. A hypothesis to be tested in this work is that under certain circumstances plants are capable of nanomaterial uptake. Defining the combination of nanoparticle characteristics (composition, size and surface chemistries) including potential plant protein/polysaccharide coatings (from root exudates and turnover or within plant tissue) that facilitate uptake and assimilation is a major goal of this award. Of particular interest is quantitative characterization of the accumulation process and, furthermore, if edible portions of the plant are involved which could lead to transfer of potentially harmful materials up the throughout the food web. Interwoven into plant uptake and assimilation studies, additional experiments are designed to probe known plant biochemical(biotransformation) processes/pathways that may affect engineered (often organic) ENM coatings and ENM directly including nanomaterial phytotoxicity and evaluate material impacts on plant gross development and health.

The work will result in important information for both nanotechnology policymakers and industry alike. The relevance derives from three specific features: first, the research will fill the glaring data gap in plant-ENP interactions and will evaluate species differences; second, the breadth of the materials to be considered is broad enough to encompass a wide variety of existing and future engineered nanomaterials; and finally, the central role that plants play in any description of environmental impact of contaminants. Results will enable nanotechnology risk management strategies that ensure eco-responsible use and disposal.

Abstract

Proposal Title: Workshop on Applications of Nanotechnology in the Water Sector: Emerging Opportunities and Challenges for Water Treatment and Reuse

Principal Investigator: Pedro Alvarez

Institution: Rice University

Proposal No: CBET-1100755

The IWA Specialist group on "Nano and Water" will host a 3-day international workshop on ?Applications of Nanotechnology in the Water Sector?, to contribute towards sustainable water management and global water security. This workshop will be partially sponsored by the Swiss host institutions ETH and EAWAG. The workshop will address issues of research & education arising from the interface of nanotechnology and water engineering in a meaningful and focused dialogue, and provide valuable mentorship and international networking opportunities to emerging leaders and young researchers in this rapidly growing field through an integrated experience. The funding requested from NSF would be used to subsidize travel by US researchers especially junior faculty and postdocs, who would greatly benefit from this unique opportunity to share knowledge and technologies in this emerging field and identify research priorities. Topics to discuss include: (1) Nanosorbents; (2) Nanocatalysts, bio and redox -active NP; (3) Dendritic polymers / Biopolymers; (4) Multifunctional membranes (including nanostructured membranes); (5) Sensors / Monitoring systems; and (6) Safety Issues.

The broader impacts will result from the active engagement of the workshop?s participants. This engagement will undoubtedly enhance and strengthen the opportunities for and interest in international, interdisciplinary as well as academic-industrial collaboration on environmental applications of nanomaterials. In addition, the workshop will provide a solid foundation for the academic community?s future: (a) involvement in supporting and furthering CBET?s vision, mission, and goals; and (b) collaboration in research and education programs, projects, and activities at greater and closer levels. Thus, this workshop will not only help participants to craft better proposals and compete more effectively, but it will also contribute to the overall development of young faculty members.

Title: A Nanosystems Engineering Research Center for Nanotechnology Enabled Water Treatment.

Access to safe drinking water is a basic need for all life on the planet. It is a grand challenge linked to public health, energy production, and sustainable development. This is not just a need in the developing world. Over 40 million Americans are not connected to a municipal water system and rely on the quality of the water available from wells. The quality of this water varies with location and climate change exacerbates fresh water scarcity. The technologies that result from the research of this center will broaden access to clean drinking water with a variety of potential sources (e.g. groundwater from wells, salt water, brackish water, or recycled industrial water). The modular systems that will be designed will address drinking water from the scale of a household, to a neighborhood to a remote town. These technologies will also find application to help people get drinking water during natural disasters. In addition to drinking water, the Center will improve the water "footprint" of oil and gas exploration and production operations by helping to increase the quality of water cleanup for reuse and recycle. The environmental impact of water use in these industrial settings will be improved, saving energy and water resources. Students trained in this Center will have a multidisciplinary, team-based research experience with the skills needed to translate their research to a broad set of stakeholders (e.g., industrial organizations, governmental organizations, and citizens) that lack a secure source of clean water.

The ERC is led by Rice University, with partners at Arizona State University, University of Texas-El Paso and Yale University. The Center's use of nanotechnology will allow the design and manufacture of multifunctional nanomaterials to adsorb a wide variety of pollutants including oxo-anions, total dissolved solids, nitrates, salts, organics, foulants, scalants, viruses and microbes. These nanomaterials will be immobilized in membranes that are packaged into system modules. The use of modules offers flexibility of targeted pollutant(s) and end-use application capacity or scale of delivered water rate. Novel photonic, electronic, catalytic, and magnetic engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) will introduce new approaches to transform water treatment from a large, chemical- and energy-intensive process toward compact physical and catalytic systems. These innovations will benefit multiple stakeholders, from rural communities and locations hit by natural disasters to hydraulic fracturing oil and gas sites, where reuse of produced waters minimizes regional environmental impacts. The Center's innovative technologies are founded on rigorous basic research. Component technologies include fouling-resistant, high-permeability membranes that use ENMs for surface self-cleaning and biofilm control; capacitive deionization with highly conductive and selective electrodes to remove scalants (divalent ions); rapid magnetic separation of paramagnetic nanosorbents for easy reuse; nanophotonics-enabled direct solar membrane distillation for low-energy desalination; disinfection and advanced oxidation/reduction using nanocatalysts; and template-assisted nanocrystallization for scaling control. Fundamental research on ENM interactions with water pollutants and substrate materials; integrated unit processes that immobilize, support, or recover ENMs; and safety by design demonstrated in testbeds will ensure that the Center's systems are resilient, economical, and highly efficient.

Research is needed to understand both the shorter- and longer-term impacts of Hurricane Harvey's extreme flooding in the Houston region on the mobilization of chemical and microbial contaminants, as well as how long they persist in impacted areas. In this research, the findings are being integrated and compared to the investigators' findings for previous flood studies in order to understand generalizable principles associated with disease propagation post-flood and microbial community structure changes as a result of extreme flooding. The hypothesis of this study is that significant mobilization of both chemical and microbial contaminants will be evident, resulting in contaminated drinking water sources and sediments enriched in fecal indicators and pathogenic microorganisms. The results are being used to inform the design and deployment of the NSF-supported NEWT ERC's emergency-response treatment technologies that target specific contaminants of concern, with a particular focus on serving socioeconomically vulnerable populations. The results of this research help to improve epidemiologic studies that evaluate the human health impacts of contaminants mobilized and deposited by floodwaters.

The societal impacts of this research involve providing data on water, soil and sediment quality that permits assessment of potential human health and ecosystem risks that have been enhanced due to the extreme floods caused by Harvey. Furthermore, the results enhance our understanding of the microbial ecology of disease propagation under flood conditions and inform the design of emergency response treatment systems that can be deployed to vulnerable populations impacted by future extreme flooding events. The research project involves both graduate and undergraduate students. All results are being made available to the public through Rice's Kinder Institute Urban Data Platform, a secure data repository of research-ready geocoded data for the Houston metropolitan area that facilitates cross-disciplinary research and community investigations. Furthermore, the investigators are integrating the findings into courses and developing a case study that includes teaching materials that will be made publicly available.

This award provides funding to support a Research Experiences for K-12 Teachers (RET) in Nanotechnology, Engineering, and Leadership at Rice University entitled, "Research Experience for Teachers in Nanoengineering with a Focus in Leadership". This proposal leverages STEM programs developed through prior RET site and NSF Engineering Research Center awards that have resulted in a strong partnership with Houston Independent School District (HISD), which has a very diverse student population. The Rice RET is designed to not only develop content and leadership skills but also scale up research experiences by forming a nexus of teacher leaders who can then train new teachers in perpetuity. Teacher interns will work with curriculum specialists to develop lessons that are inquiry-based, embedded with nanoscience and engineering, and tightly aligned with National and Texas Science standards. The proposed NSF RET Program will enhance and extend the previous successful RET Program.

The Rice Office of STEM Engagement (R-STEM) will offer a K-12 RET program in Nanotechnology with a Focus on Teacher Leadership, an enhancement upon the six years of success Rice University has committed in teacher professional development through research internships. R-STEM will connect STEM teachers who serve students in the Greater Houston metropolitan area with expert faculty in nanoengineering research at Rice. With the help of Rice University's research mentorship and facilities, RET will accomplish the following objectives: 1) use nanoengineering research experiences to enhance teacher content knowledge and understanding of STEM research processes, 2) improve the quality of education though the development of engineering design-based learning activities centered on research practices, 3) create a cadre of teacher leaders, and 4) disseminate the RET outcomes broadly by creating a network of teachers who are actively learning about nanoengineering research and engineering design. Teachers will receive inquiry-based lessons, professional development, and pedagogical support along with leadership training as they translate their research experiences into learning experiences for students. The program will serve as a national model and will broadly disseminate the outcomes of RET via symposiums at Rice, national and state-wide meetings, peer-reviewed publications, and online via the TeachEngineering digital library. Teachers will meet weekly during their RET experience to discuss their research, share their lab experiences, develop lesson ideas, as well as plan the dissemination of their research. Rice postdoctoral researchers, graduate students, and industry mentors will be constituents supporting the RET teachers in their research. At the conclusion of the research experience, each teacher will create a research poster to present their experience and finding at the Nanotechnology for Teachers Symposium, to their teaching campus, as well as at district and professional conferences. During the academic school year following their research experiences, teachers will share both their research and lesson plans with other teachers in professional development programs. R-STEM professional development courses will support RET teachers to propagate their knowledge effectively to a large number of STEM teachers, creating a cadre of motivated, creative, and diverse teacher leaders in the community. RET interns will also be encouraged and guided by the R-STEM team to publish their nanotechnology lessons through TeachEngineering.org. Throughout the components of the program, assessment is performed by an external evaluator to determine the impact on the 12 teachers that participate each summer and to provide feedback for refining the program.

The objective of this project is to develop quantitative models and associated databases to characterize and evaluate water infrastructure systems of different configurations, and enable data-supported decision making tools for design and operation of integrated water management (IWM) systems. The research will address a critical technical barrier in adopting IWM systems by establishing a set of quantitative models for design and assessment of water infrastructure systems of various configurations over their lifetimes.

Specifically, the project will 1) develop statistical network topology models at low computational cost to characterize and predict hydraulic performance of water infrastructure networks with different configurations; 2) Investigate the interdependency and dynamic interactions among water supply, storm water and wastewater networks in an IWM paradigm; 3) Assess potential human and ecosystem health risks based on the types of alternative water sources, reclamation technologies, and end uses; 4) Evaluate the suitability and sustainability of existing and emerging water treatment technologies for IWM systems of different scales using a life cycle and systems approach. The research plan builds upon complementary expertise of 8 participating researchers at several partner institutions, and leverages multiple ongoing projects and other resources. The highly collaborative education and outreach plan includes: 1) development of web-based course modules that will initially be used in existing courses, and integrated into a complete web-based course to be taught at all partner institutions; 2) means for sharing data among research labs and with the scientific community as well as the general public; 3) training for utility operators, urban water planners, and high school science teachers; 4) engaging high school students from schools serving large population of under-represented minorities in research; 5) a faculty and student exchange program between U.S. and Chinese partner institutions. Implementation of the plan will train the next generation of water professionals through a highly multi-disciplinary, cross-culture program, and equip them with technical tools enabling urban water sustainability for cities of different size, and economic development status. This award is co-funded by the CBET Environmental Sustainability program and the Office of International Science and Engineering.

The virus that causes COVID-19 (i.e., SARS-CoV-2) has been found in air ducts, suggesting that it could spread around buildings via air conditioning systems. SARS-CoV-2 is also shed in stool despite patients testing negative, and thus it may reach wastewater treatment plants, where it could survive for days and be aerosolized or discharged in the effluent. In fact, there are reports that SARS-CoV-2 may spread through bathroom pipes. Although coronaviruses can be inactivated by some conventional water treatment processes, there is an urgent need for more precise viral disinfection approaches that are fast, efficient and reliable under realistic scenarios. The objective of this project is to develop a novel approach for selective adsorption and photocatalytic disinfection (i.e., trap-and-zap) of SARS-CoV-2 and other pathogenic coronaviruses. This would result in a chemical-free technology (thus avoiding harmful disinfection byproducts) with unprecedented precision and reliable efficiency to inactivate coronavirus. The driving hypothesis is that molecular imprinting of graphitic carbon nitride with common coronavirus attachment factors will enable selective virus adsorption near reactive sites, resulting in reliably high disinfection. Whereas enhancing the capacity and resiliency of wastewater disinfection and hospital air sterilization systems to protect public health against emerging infectious diseases has significant intrinsic merit, the benefits of this project are much broader. This project will enhance surface recognition of various types of coronavirus (e.g., those causing COVID-19, MERS and SARS), which will inform efforts to concentrate them and improve both precision separation (e.g., by superior sorbents) and detection limits of sensors that can be used in diagnostics and surveillance efforts. Project results will be integrated into various courses, including the NanoEnvironmental Engineering for Teachers (NEET) course at Rice, which enrolls 15 teachers that reach over 3,300 high school students annually. This course recently expanded to Arizona State University and is also being expanded to the University of Texas at El Paso, thereby ensuring wide dissemination of this ?trap-and-zap? approach to STEM teachers.

This project builds on a recently published, nanotechnology-enabled ?trap-and-zap? approach (enhanced by molecular imprinting), to selectively adsorb antibiotic resistant genes and concentrate them near photocatalytic sites for efficient degradation (doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.9b06926). This approach will be modified to target SARS-CoV-2 and other coronavirus by imprinting molecules involved in virus attachment such as sialic acids, heparin sulfate proteoglycan, and angiotensin-converting enzyme?related carboxypeptidase (ACE2)-associated peptides onto the graphitic carbon nitride photocatalysts. When the imprinted molecule is removed (e.g., by acid washing), it leaves behind a target-specific cavity that enables selective adsorption and photocatalytic inactivation with minimum interference by background water constituents. Low pathogenic coronavirus HCoV-NL63 (which, similarly to SARS-CoV 2, is enveloped with an S spike protein and uses the same cell surface molecule ACE2 as host receptor) will be used to assess adsorption kinetics and selectivity of molecularly imprinted-gC3N4 in the presence of competing proteins (such as bovine serum albumin) and bacteriophage MS2. Inactivation efficiency will be assessed by quantifying residual viable virus concentrations, using the plaque assay with Avicel overlay. Specific tasks include to (1) select a model coronavirus (e.g., HCoV-NL63) and attachment factors for molecular imprinting; (2) prepare homogenous, stable, biomolecular materials for imprinting; (3) synthesize the molecularly-imprinted catalyst; (4) characterize adsorption kinetics and selectivity of target coronavirus particles to the molecularly-imprinted catalyst; (5) benchmark virus inactivation efficiency of the molecularly imprinted -coated catalyst against traditional disinfection methods (chlorination, ultraviolet irradiation) under realistic conditions; and (6) assess durability and reuse potential of the molecularly imprinted catalyst Project results will be integrated into various courses, including the NanoEnvironmental Engineering for Teachers (NEET) course at Rice, which enrolls 15 teachers that reach over 3,300 high school students annually. This course recently expanded to Arizona State University and is also being expanded to the University of Texas at El Paso, thereby ensuring wide dissemination of this ?trap-and-zap? approach to STEM teachers.

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.