The recent oil spill (the largest spill in history) in the Gulf of Mexico has caused a tremendous and unpredictable environmental disaster. The catastrophic explosion causes discharges of up to 100,000 barrels per day and the oil slick already covers a surface area of over 10,000 square miles. Other than the emergency of stopping the oil leak, there is also an urgency to generate effective, efficient, and environmental benign solutions to clean-up the massive spill. This proposal focuses on performing novel interfacial engineering through employing functionalized nanoparticles/particles at oil-water interfaces. Specifically, in this project the investigators will synthesize environmental responsive core-shell magnetic nanoparticles that equilibrate at oil-water interfaces, release rheological modifiers, control the viscoelasticity of the oil, remove the oil layer from the interface under a magnetic field, and recover usable oils. In addition, we will synthesize hollow silica magnetic particles that equilibrate at oil-water interfaces, remove the oil layer from the interface under a magnetic field, and possibly recover usable oils.
The proposed work is of both fundamental and practical importance. Surfactants at oil-water interfaces have been studied extensively, but particles at interfaces are not well understood. Functionalized nanoparticles/particles open tremendous new opportunities to engineer oil-water interfaces and demand a better fundamental understanding. The synthesis of the particles uses Pickering emulsions (employ particles as an emulsifier), a subject of increasing interest, as templates and the subsequent interfacial engineering offers novel designs and solutions to tackle interfacial problems.
Broader Impacts:
Research and education will be integrated throughout the project duration. The proposed work is anticipated to offer a paradigm shift in generating effective, efficient, and environmental benign solutions in respond to the urgent call of oil clean-up and recovery in the Gulf of Mexico and other oil-water separation processes. The PI will collaborate with the Shell Oil Company in this project to promote translating fundamental research to practical applications. In addition, the PI will continue her strong commitment to promoting graduate and undergraduate research, including applying for the Fulton Undergraduate Research Initiative (FURI) program at ASU to leverage NSF funds. The project provides an excellent example of educating general public how fundamental research may lead to a novel engineering solution which addresses unexpected natural and man-made disasters. It will be used an example in multiple recruiting and retention events to encourage more participation in science and engineering, including from the under-represented groups. The PI will establish a Summer Program in partnership with the existing minority programs, for example, the Native American Summer Institute at ASU.
The oil spill (largest spill in history) in the Gulf of Mexico occurred in 2010 has caused a significant and potentially unpredictable environmental disaster. Other than the emergency of stopping the oil leak, there is also an urgency to generate effective, efficient, and environmental benign solutions to clean-up the massive spill. This project offers a new way of oil clean-up and recovery through interfacial engineering. The project has successfully synthesized core-shell pH-sensitive composite particles using one-step Pickering emulsion polymerization. The synthesized particles are demonstrated to be pH sensitive and more importantly, release a rheological modifier, soy lecithin, L-α-phosphatidylcholine, upon a pH change, evidenced by rheological and Fourier transform infrared spectrometer (FTIR) experiments. In addition, we have synthesized microgel particles with large dimension change upon a pH stimulus. The microgel particles can release rheological modifiers and adsorb inorganic nanoparticles into the core. The work is unique since the core-shell composite particles are synthesized by a convenient and one-step Pickering emulsion polymerization. More importantly, these particles successfully release a rheological modifier at a high pH and change the rheological behavior of water. It offers a new way of oil clean-up and recovery through interfacial engineering. It is also worthwhile to note that the work from this project was included in a proposal entitled "the Science and Technology of Dispersants as Relevant to Deep-Sea Hydrocarbon Releases", led by V. John from Tulane University. The proposal is funded by the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative Boardin the amount of $10,338.000 (9/1/2012-8/31/2014) and L. Dai serves as the PI from ASU. This research actively involves one female PhD student, one female MS student, and two undergraduate students. The project was presented in ChE 100 Introduction of Chemical Engineering to encourage the freshmen to participate in undergraduate research. The project was broadcasted in various recruiting and open house events targeting to high school students to encourage them to pursue science and engineering and understand how fundamental research improves daily life. The project and the acknowledgment of the NSF support, were published in a book chapter entitled "Advanced Core-Shell Composite Nanoparticles through Pickering Emulsions Polymerization," in the book of The Delivery of Nanoparticles, In TECH, 2012.
