REU Site: Elements of Sustainability

Project Details

Engineering encapsulated environments for microbes (J. Moberly, Chemical Engineering):
Tuning synthetic microenvironments allows for microorganisms to survive and function in otherwise lethal or inhibitory environments; providing enhanced function for microbes used in environmental bioremediation, biomedical applications and biotechnology and bioprocessing.28-30 A focus for this research has been in designing encapsulation environments for chlorinated aliphatic hydrocarbon degradation and acid tolerance. This multi-disciplinary project combines elements of materials science, chemical engineering, biological engineering and chemistry and will allow students from multiple disciplines to interact with one another.

REU students will be involved in all aspects of the project including polymer formulation, analyte mass transfer measurements, mathematical modeling of coupled reaction and diffusion models and viability and attrition of encapsulated microbes.

Project Details

Biomedical applications of polymeric materials (Matthew Bernards, Chemical Engineering):
The Bernards lab is currently developing multi-functional polyampholyte materials for tissue engineering and regeneration. This family of polymeric materials provides several unique features including resistance to nonspecific protein adsorption (non-fouling), bioactive molecule delivery and tunable physical properties. Student efforts will include fundamental observations on the role chemistry plays in the resulting material properties (non-fouling, protein conjugation, hydrolytic degradation, etc.).

REU students will have the opportunity to assist in the development of these polymer materials by learning polymerization and characterization procedures depending on their background and interests.

Ultimately, students will contribute toward the characterization of either material properties for a given chemistry (engineering) or developing modifications to the underlying chemistry and polymerization approaches (chemistry). 

Project Details

Destruction of per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances by liquid-phase plasma discharge (Sarah Wu, Biological Engineering):
Per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are an emerging threat to U.S. waters in recent years. The multiple and extremely strong C-F bonds make PFAS very attractive for industrial applications, but these also lead to environmental persistence, making PFAS a hazard to humans and ecological systems. At low levels, even in parts per trillion (ppt), PFAS could lead to serious health effects, such as kidney cancer, liver damage, immunotoxicity, neurotoxicity, testicular cancer and abnormal thyroid hormone levels. Therefore, there is an urgent need to better understand the fate and distribution of PFAS contamination in water systems and to develop efficient, cost-effective solutions to manage and/or destroy PFAS in contaminated drinking water and wastewater, given that the lack of technologies to treat water contaminated by PFAS is extremely outstanding.

Therefore, the objectives of this REU project are to:

1. Survey local drinking water and wastewaters and characterize PFAS compounds in the samples to understand the treatment needs and the fate and distribution of PFAS in local waters.
2. Identify, evaluate, and optimize the significant process parameters of continuous flow liquid-phase plasma discharge (CFLPPD) for defluorination of PFAS compounds.
3. Investigate the degradation of major PFAS compounds and degradation pathways by CFLPPD.

REU students working on Wu’s research project will receive training for collecting and analyzing environmental water/wastewater samples, experimenting in physical/chemical treatment processes and analytical equipment, sample collecting and analyzing data for the CLPD process for PFAS treatment and chemical reaction pathways, engineering design and system optimization and publishing research findings.

Project Details

Fabricating bulk metal-matrix nanoparticle composites with additive manufacturing (M. R. Maughan, Mechanical Engineering):
Next-generation materials for extreme environments will rely on finely controlled chemistry and advanced processing techniques. Since processing influences chemical segregation, phase composition, microstructure and properties, non-traditional processing techniques are required to produce materials capable of the enhanced performance demanded by future applications.

Toward this goal, Maughan’s research group studies advanced manufacturing techniques to control processing-properties relationships and synthesize materials. This includes simultaneous deposition of multiple feedstocks, in-situ quenching techniques, microstructure control and characterization and small- and large-scale mechanical properties characterization. Students in this group have engineered custom additive manufacturing (AM) machines with unique capabilities, using them to create single-crystal nickel and steel components with spatially varying microstructure (martensite-based) through solidification processing, and novel wood-based composites. Fabricating metal-matrix nanoparticle composites (MMNCs) cannot be accomplished by traditional casting techniques due to issues with particle agglomeration and damage. The hypothesis of this work is that AM can be used to build bulk MMNCs, significantly reducing processing energy and enabling larger structures to be created.

REU students will participate in materials synthesis by integrating ceramic nanoparticles in tungsten inert gas-based aluminum AM to achieve fine microstructure and enhanced performance.

Students will determine what nanoparticle delivery system is effective and how delivery can be accomplished safely. They will also determine with microscopy and nanoindentation if particles introduced during AM are sufficiently disbursed to achieve desired properties.

Project Details

Building new polymers from mixed polymer systems (A. McDonald, Renewable Materials):
The growing concern regarding the amount of mixed plastic waste (MPW) generated, especially in municipal solid wastes (MSW), and with the significant quantity ending up in landfills has led to the search for a more sustainable mode of disposal. Mechanical recycling can divert these wastes, especially MPW containing some paper fibers from the landfill.

REU students will examine the blending of MPW in combination with natural fibers (hemp, hops, straw) from agricultural waste streams to form alloys and composite materials.

To improve the interfacial bonding between MPW and fibers, maleated polyolefin (MAPE) and dicumyl peroxide (DCP) crosslinking/long-chain branching and grafting agents in the formulations will be evaluated. Another potential project is to mitigate non-degradable commodity plastics to usable plastics from sustainable resources, such as polylactic acid and polyhydroxyalkanoates, as direct substitutes for high-commodity plastics in single-use packaging applications. Blow film bioplastic formulations will be evaluated. The bioplastics, MPW alloys and composite materials will be subjected to full chemical, thermal and mechanical property testing to assess their performance and suitable applications.

Project Details

Development of phosphorous atom transfer catalysts (Rick Thompson, Chemistry):
  Despite the importance of organophosphorous compounds in biology, agrochemistry, catalysis and materials science, their synthesis has traditionally relied on multistep, atom-inefficient routes based on highly toxic, corrosive and pyrophoric reagents including white phosphorous (P4) and chlorine gas (Cl2). The Thompson lab is looking to change that. In concept, phosphorous atom transfer (PAT) to C–H of C–C pi-bonds would provide direct entry into P-containing products. Due to so-called “diagonal effects”, the chemistry of transition metal phosphides is anticipated to mirror that of carbynes and this literature precedent has guided our targets.

The potential of PAT reactivity has not been realized thus far, due in part to the relative scarcity of metal phosphides, relative to other triply-bonded ligands such as alkylidynes or nitrides. The introduction of the phosphaethynolate (PCO–) anion, whose facile synthesis from red phosphorus (a more stable and less toxic allotrope, relative to P4) provides new opportunities to access metal phosphides via carbon monoxide expulsion.

This project will focus on developing a library of transition metal phosphaethylnolates and phosphides with a particular focus on group IV metals (Cr, Mo, and W) as well as Fe. 

REU students in this project will develop skills in organic and air-free, organometallic synthesis as well as NMR, IR, UV-Vis spectroscopy and single crystal X-ray diffraction.  This project will expose students to concepts in metal-ligand multiple bonding, synthesis and characterization of reactive organometallic complexes, and catalysis.

Research Philosophy

The Thompson Lab is a tightly-knit group of graduate students, undergrads, postdoctoral researchers and professor.  We have weekly lab meetings where we present both what has and has not worked in our independent projects, using our collective expertise and experience to understand what the data is telling us and problem-solve. We also discuss the most recent discoveries which have been published to have a better understanding of chemistry. Undergraduate researchers are treated as peers and are allowed to independently explore ideas and projects, as well as receive mentorship in how to perform synthesis at a high level.

Project Details

Electrochemical studies and applications of pseudo-graphite (I. Francis Cheng, Chemistry):
The material, GUITAR (pseudo-Graphite from the University of Idaho Thermalized Asphalt Reaction), was discovered in 2010 and characterized in detail in recent publications. It is pseudo-graphitic, having similar visual and microscopic appearances to graphite but with diverging electrochemical characteristics. These differences include fast heterogeneous electron transfer (HET) at the basal and edge planes (BP, EP), resistance to corrosion that equals sp³carbon electrodes, and a hydrogen overpotential that is 0.5 V greater than other pure sp² C materials.

These properties lend themselves well to electrochemical applications, including fuel cells, sensors, flow batteries and water purification. The synthesis of GUITAR is highly sustainable as the precursors can vary from waste oils, either from petroleum or plant products. The material itself can be reprocessed as it is pure carbon. A long service life is expected as it is much more durable than other carbon electrodes from the standpoints of corrosion and surface fouling. The focus of the REU project will be on GUITAR deposition onto magnetically susceptible nano and microparticles. These will allow for adsorption and concentration of analytes and pollutants for environmental remediations and/or analyses.

REU students will explore pollutant remediation using direct anodic oxidation with the corrosion-stable material.

Indirect oxidations will be pursued by the generation of reactive oxygen species both at GUITAR cathode and anode consisting of magnetically concentrated GUITAR/Fe particles.

Project Details

Synthesis of bioplastics from fermented organic matter (E. Coats, Environmental Engineering):
Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) are biodegradable substitutes for polyethylene and polypropylene and are synthesized by mixed cultures of bacteria on organic acids. We are conducting research to understand synthesis at a molecular level, and to understand how we can manipulate material properties based on the substrate feeding regime.

REU students will be engaged to work alongside a graduate student and the faculty mentor to conduct these studies.

Project Details

Mining-impacted environments and solute generation (J. Langman, Geology):
The hydrogeochemical world is undergoing a revolution in our view of how matter is transported in hydrologic systems. Prior views of atomic-scale ions and minerals or larger-scale colloids and sols are being updated to include the importance of transportable nanomaterials. From the inorganic perspective, these nanomaterials are ultrafine, weathered particles or aggregates of clumped minerals that are sufficiently small to travel throughout the hydrologic cycle, including slow-moving, low-permeability aquifer systems. With the identification of such nanomaterials in hydrologic systems, the Langman Hydrogeochemistry Research Group is working to determine the generation, reactivity and persistence of nanomaterials in mining-impacted environments.

REU students will use solid-phase and solute analytical techniques to evaluate the temporal formation of mobile nanomaterials from the weathering of reactive sulfidic minerals that are exposed, or brought to the surface, as part of the mining process.

Much of this work revolves around the shrinking core model of sulfide weathering that requires atomic-scale evaluation of oxidation states and bonding environments through techniques such as X-ray spectroscopy performed at a synchrotron. Additionally, students will use field methods to track released nanomaterials within these mining environments to better understand how we can use transport models and best management practices to reduce the environmental impacts of mining or remediate legacy mine sites. 

Summer 2025 — Red Dog project

Evaluation of the acid-generating capacity of the mine waste through mineral characterization and reaction cell experiments. The Red Dog ore is hosted in Mississippian-Pennsylvanian black shales of the Kuna Formation of the Lisburne Group. Major sulfides, in decreasing order of abundance, include sphalerite [(Zn,Fe)S], pyrite [FeS²(cubic)], marcasite [FeS2(orthorhombic)], and galena [PbS]. Deposition of the mine waste in the main stockpile has generated substantial acid rock drainage (pH < 2 and TDS of > 40,000 mg/L) that is impacting use of water in the tailings pond where the acidic drainage discharges. The impact of the acidic drainage ranges from alteration of ore processing and the offsite discharge to Red Dog Creek which requires reverse osmosis treatment to meet regulatory requirements. In Summer 2025, we will be finishing the waste rock, reaction-cell experiments and begin our post-experiment mineral characterization, which will entail optical, X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscope analyses for evaluating the change in iron sulfide minerals because of the reaction-cell experiments.

REU students will be expected to complete a portion of the post-experiment analyses with graduate student assistance.

Research Philosophy

My goal is to provide the necessary training and oversight of students to allow them to successfully complete their research tasks while exposing students to current research methods for understanding water-rock interactions and the evolution of Earth systems.

Project Details

Pyrolyzed biomass modification for water treatment, nutrient recycling, and soil amendment (D. Strawn, Soil and Water Systems):
Strawn investigates modification of pyrolyzed biomass, called biochar, to use in water treatment to recover nutrients and contaminants. The recovered nutrient-enhanced biochar can be used as a soil amendment to promote soil health, plant growth and carbon sequestration. Nutrient recovery and recycling of biochar is an attractive option to stimulate the bioeconomy of agriculture and forest practices that can improve water quality and availability, sustainable resource use and offset carbon emissions. Optimizing the process requires investigation of surface reaction properties of the biochar that promote nitrogen and phosphorus removal from wastewater.

REU students will explore the chemical characteristics of modified biochar using electron microscopy, chemical extractions, surface area analysis, phosphorus adsorption and desorption characteristics and NMR and FTIR spectroscopies. Select modified biochars will be tested for effectiveness at nutrient recovery in batch reactors and as soil amendments using plant growth trials. REU students will learn about chemical characterization methods of surface reactions and apply this information to design novel products to address grand challenges in environmental science.