With this EAGER award, the Chemical Measurement and Imaging Program of the Division of Chemistry is funding Professors William Dichtel and Damian Helbling of Cornell University to develop a porous polymer derived from cornstarch that rapidly removes organic pollutants from water. The first polymer derived from this approach shows rapid pollutant uptake and can be regenerated and reused under more mild conditions than activated carbons. The project focuses on studying the fundamental processes by which contaminants bind to the polymer at environmentally relevant concentrations as well as further improving the polymer's properties. In this way, it addresses critical issues associated with water contamination that represents an important challenge relevant to the food-energy-water nexus. The broader impacts of the work include the societal benefit of new water purification technologies as well as a planned effort to remove pesticides from water sources contaminated by agricultural runoff in a developing country.
This project focuses on new porous polymers based on cyclodextrin monomers. Preliminary experiments demonstrated the promise of this approach but focused on relatively high concentrations of target pollutants. The removal of a larger number of organic micropollutants are being evaluated at environmentally relevant concentrations. Kinetic and thermodynamic binding parameters for the removal of individual compounds and compound mixtures by the cyclodextrin polymer are being compared to those of various activated carbons. These studies inform parallel efforts to change the polymer structure to vary its uptake properties and improve its surface area and control particle size. Finally, a sustainability analysis of the monomers and manufacture of the polymer is underway, so as to evaluate the inputs associated with manufacturing this material as an additional metric of its potential utility.
