CAREER: Molecular Electrocatalysts and Reactive Separations for Wastewater Nitrogen Refining

职业：废水氮精炼的分子电催化剂和反应分离

• 批准号: 2339308
• 负责人: William Tarpeh
• 金额: $ 55万
• 依托单位: Stanford University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2024
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2024-05-01 至 2029-04-30
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2339308&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: CAREER; Molecular; Electrocatalysts; Reactive; Separations; CAREER; Molecular; Electrocatalysts; Reactive; Separations

The utilization of nitrogen (N) fertilizers has been critical to maximizing crop yields in agriculture and farming to feed a growing world population. Unfortunately, the release of excess N (nitrate) from agricultural runoffs and wastewater treatment plants has also led to widespread groundwater pollution and nutrient enrichment in surface water systems, a process commonly referred to as eutrophication. In nitrogen-limited surface water systems including lakes, rivers, and estuaries, eutrophication has been shown to cause a decrease in water quality, oxygen depletion, a loss of aquatic biota, and the occurrence of harmful algal blooms. The overarching goal of this CAREER project is to explore the utilization of electrochemical refining to recover nitrate from wastewater and convert it into valuable products such as ammonia which is a critical component of N fertilizers. To advance this goal, the Principal Investigator proposes to combine and integrate chemical separations (membranes), electrocatalysis (nitrate reduction reactions), process modeling, technoeconomic analysis (TEA), and life cycle assessment (LCA) to design, develop, and optimize reaction and separation systems that can capture, concentrate, and convert nitrate from wastewater sources to high purity ammonia. The successful completion of this project will benefit society through the generation of new fundamental knowledge and technology to advance the mitigation of nitrate pollution and enable a circular nitrogen economy. Additional benefits to society will be achieved through education and training including the mentoring of one graduate student at Stanford University. The management of the global nitrogen cycle has been identified as one of the 14 Grand Challenges for Engineering by the US National Academy of Engineering. Electrochemical refining has emerged as a promising technology to advance a circular nitrogen economy as it can be utilized to tune the oxidation states, transport, and conversion of nitrogen pollutants from wastewater to valuable products at potentially lower cost with reduced chemical inputs and emissions than existing commercial technologies. This CAREER project will investigate the electrochemical reduction of nitrate from wastewater to produce ammonia, a critical component of nitrogen fertilizers. To advance this goal, the Principal Investigator (PI) proposes to design, synthesize, evaluate, and optimize a new family of homogenous molecular catalysts [M(DIM) catalysts, where M is a transition metal (Co, Fe, Mn, Cu, Ni) at the center of a dimethyl ligand (DIM)] that could enable the rapid, selective, inexpensive, and energy-efficient electrochemical nitrate reduction to high-purity ammonia. The specific objectives of the research are to 1) design and synthesize molecular M(DIM) catalysts and elucidate their mechanisms of nitrate reduction in various wastewater matrices; 2) design and engineer extraction systems to separate the catalysts and their reaction products (ammonia) from treated wastewater; and 3) design, develop, and optimize electrically driven reactive and separation systems that could be integrated into wastewater treatment plants to recover and convert nitrate to high-purity ammonia. The successful completion of this project has the potential for transformative impact through the generation of new fundamental knowledge to advance the design and development of more efficient and cost-effective wastewater treatment processes and systems to recover and convert nitrate to valuable products. To implement the educational and outreach activities of this CAREER project, the PI proposes to leverage existing programs and resources at Stanford University to design and launch an annual Bay Area Electrochemistry (BAE) Bootcamp to train early-stage graduate students on electrochemical methods and circular water treatment applications. In addition, the PI proposes to 1) develop and implement an REU program augmented with seminars on societal equity to recruit and retain undergraduate students from underrepresented groups and 2) design and organize water-related science fair projects to engage and mentor high school students from underrepresented groups.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.

氮（N）肥料的利用对于最大程度地提高农业和农业的农作物产量至关重要，以养活不断增长的世界人口。不幸的是，从农业径流和废水处理厂中释放过多的N（硝酸盐）也导致地表水系统中广泛的地下水污染和养分富集，这通常称为富营养化。在包括湖泊，河流和河口在内的氮限制地表水系统中，富营养化已被证明会导致水质降低，氧气耗尽，水生生物植物的损失以及有害的藻类开花的发生。该职业项目的总体目标是探索利用电化学精炼以从废水中恢复硝酸盐，并将其转换为有价值的产品，例如氨，这是N肥料的关键组成部分。为了促进这一目标，主要研究者建议将化学分离（膜），电催化（硝酸盐减少反应），过程建模，技术经济分析（TEA）和生命周期评估（LCA）（LCA）（LCA）（LCA）（LCA）（设计，开发和优化）捕获，浓缩和浓缩量的含量较高的反应系统，以设计，开发和优化的反应系统，以设计，开发和优化的反应系统，从而高纯度Ammon，从而设计，开发和优化的反应系统。该项目的成功完成将通过产生新的基本知识和技术来使社会受益，从而促进硝酸盐污染的缓解并实现循环氮经济。通过教育和培训，包括在斯坦福大学的一名研究生指导，将获得社会的其他好处。美国国家工程学院的管理全球氮周期的管理已被确定为工程学14个巨大的挑战之一。电化学炼油已成为一种有前途的技术，可以推进循环氮经济性，因为它可以用来调整氧化状态，运输和转化从废水中，以降低的化学投入和发射量低于现有商业技术，以较低的成本从废水到有价值的产物。该职业项目将调查从废水中硝酸盐的电化学降低，以生产氨（氮肥料的关键组成部分）。为了促进这一目标，首席研究者（PI）建议设计，合成，评估和优化一个新的同质分子催化剂[M（DIM）催化剂，其中M是过渡金属（CO，FE，FE，MN，MN，CU，CU，Ni）还原为高纯氨。研究的具体目标是1）设计和合成分子M（DIM）催化剂，并阐明其在各种废水基质中硝酸盐还原的机制； 2）设计和工程师提取系统将催化剂及其反应产物（氨）与处理过的废水分开； 3）设计，开发和优化电动驱动的反应性和分离系统，这些系统可以集成到废水处理厂中，以恢复并将硝酸盐转化为高纯氨。该项目的成功完成通过产生新的基本知识，可以推动更有效，更具成本效益的废水处理过程和系统的设计和开发，从而恢复并将硝酸盐转化为有价值的产品。为了实施该职业项目的教育和推广活动，PI建议利用斯坦福大学的现有计划和资源设计和推出年度湾区电化学（BAE）训练营，以培训有关电化学方法和循环水处理应用的早期研究生。 In addition, the PI proposes to 1) develop and implement an REU program augmented with seminars on societal equity to recruit and retain undergraduate students from underrepresented groups and 2) design and organize water-related science fair projects to engage and mentor high school students from underrepresented groups.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader影响审查标准。