Ethyl Cellulose Nanoparticles and Porous Media: Fundamentals and Applications

乙基纤维素纳米颗粒和多孔介质：基础知识和应用

• 批准号: RGPIN-2021-03086
• 负责人: Ioannidis, Marios
• 金额: $ 2.04万
• 依托单位: University of Waterloo
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2022-01-01 至 2023-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=747149
• 关键词: Ethyl; Cellulose; Nanoparticles; Porous; Media

The discharge of non-aqueous phase liquids in the course of transportation or industrial activity is a cause of grave concern for the health of both surface and subsurface aquatic environments. Their removal from the subsurface in particular, is a vexing problem, due to great difficulty with the characterization and targeting of source zones, the monitoring of remediation performance, and the in situ delivery of remediation agents with selectivity toward contaminants. Engineered nanomaterials have great potential to improve the efficacy of existing and novel remediation technologies; however, challenges with material sustainability and barriers to nanoparticle transport and distribution in porous media, have hampered progress towards widespread deployment. The long term vision of this research program is to address these challenges, strategically focusing our immediate efforts over the next five years on an emerging sustainable nanomaterial, ethyl cellulose (EC), derived from abundantly available cellulose. Capitalizing on our quantitative understanding of the role surface forces play in the attachment and assembly of EC nanoparticles (NPs) at gas--liquid and liquid--liquid interfaces, we will use EC- NP suspensions as a model system to investigate NP interactions with mobile and immobile fluid--fluid interfaces  in porous media (i.e., at the pore- network and continuum scales). The systematic characterization of physical processes operative at different scales is a distinguishing feature of the proposed research program. Fundamental knowledge gained from the study of EC-NPs will enable the rational development of applications based not only on EC-NPs, but on more complex sustainable nanomaterials derived from cellulose or lignin. The proposed research program will unfold in two main directions. The first will investigate, using experiments and simulations, fundamental aspects of EC-NP transport in host porous media (soil and rock), under conditions of single-, two- and three--phase flow. This is important because NP attachment at fluid interfaces affects and is affected by the dynamics of immiscible displacement - dynamics which underpin applications in subsurface remediation (e.g., NP--stabilized foam flooding, contaminant sensing by NPs, immobilization of hydrophobic contaminants, in situ contaminant barriers), oil recovery and monument preservation. The second direction will address experimentally the use of oil--water (O/W) emulsions stabilized by EC- NPs as templates for the creation of hydrophobic/oleophilic porous materials used for O/W separation and as coatings for wettability control. Ultimately, this research will lead to the development of sustainable technologies and the training of highly-qualified personnel at the interface of colloid science and transport in porous media, fields seeing significant growth and requiring highly trained personnel as advanced materials are beginning to be deployed in geologic settings.

在运输或工业活动过程中非水相液体的排放是对地表和地下水生环境健康的严重关注，特别是由于非常困难，它们从地下的清除是一个令人烦恼的问题。通过源区的表征和目标、修复性能的监测以及对污染物具有选择性的修复剂的原位输送，工程纳米材料在提高现有和新型修复技术的功效方面具有巨大的潜力；然而，材料可持续性的挑战以及纳米颗粒在多孔介质中传输和分布的障碍阻碍了广泛部署的进展，该研究计划的长期愿景是解决这些挑战，在未来五年内战略性地集中我们的直接努力。新兴的可持续纳米材料乙基纤维素 (EC)，源自丰富的纤维素，利用我们对表面力在 EC 纳米粒子 (NP) 在气体、液体和环境中的附着和组装中所发挥的作用的定量理解。液-液界面，我们将使用 EC- NP 悬浮液作为模型系统来研究 NP 与多孔介质中移动和固定流体-流体界面的相互作用（即在孔隙网络和连续体尺度）。在不同尺度上运作的物理过程是拟议研究计划的一个显着特征，从 EC-NPs 研究中获得的基础知识将不仅能够合理地开发基于的应用程序。 EC-NP，但基于源自纤维素或木质素的更复杂的可持续纳米材料。拟议的研究计划将在两个主要方向展开，第一个方向将利用实验和模拟研究 EC-NP 在宿主多孔介质（土壤）中传输的基本方面。在单相、两相和三相流条件下，这一点很重要，因为流体界面上的纳米颗粒附着会影响不混相驱替的动力学，并受其影响，而该动力学是地下修复应用的基础。 （例如，NP——稳定泡沫驱、NP污染物传感、疏水性污染物固定、原位污染物屏障）、石油采收和纪念碑保护。第二个方向将通过实验解决油-水（O/W）的使用。由 EC-NP 稳定的乳液作为模板用于创建用于 O/W 分离的疏水/亲油多孔材料以及作为润湿性控制的涂层。这项研究将促进可持续技术的发展，并培训胶体科学和多孔介质传输领域的高素质人员，随着先进材料开始在地质环境中部署，这些领域将出现显着增长，并需要训练有素的人员。