Abstract
The presence of heavy metals in our water supply poses an immense global public health burden. Heavy metal consumption is tied to increased mortality and a wide range of insidious health outcomes. In recent years, great strides have been made toward nanotechnological approaches for environmental problems, specifically the design of adsorbents to detoxify water, as well as for a related challenge of recovering valuable metals at low concentrations. However, applying nanomaterials at scale and differentiating which nanomaterials are best suited for particular applications can be challenging. Here, we report a methodology for loading nanomaterial coatings onto adsorbent membranes, testing different coatings against one another, and leveraging these materials under a variety of conditions. Our tailored coating for lead remediation, made from manganese-doped goethite nanoparticles, can filter lead from contaminated water to below detectable levels when coated onto a cellulose membrane, and the coated membrane can be recovered and reused for multiple cycles through mild tuning of pH. The Nano-SCHeMe methodology demonstrates a platform approach for effectively deploying nanomaterials for environmental applications and for direct and fair comparisons among these nanomaterials. Moreover, this approach is flexible and expansive in that our coatings have the potential to be applied to a range of sorbents.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 2120-2129 |
| Number of pages | 10 |
| Journal | ACS ES and T Water |
| Volume | 3 |
| Issue number | 8 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Aug 11 2023 |
Funding
The authors are extremely grateful for the assistance and advice from Northwestern University shared facilities, namely Rebecca Sponenburg and the QBIC staff, Tirzah Abbott and the NUANCE staff, Neil Schweitzer and the REACT staff, Carla Shute and MatCI staff, and Jerrold Carsello and the Cohen X-ray diffraction facility staff. The research related to oxide nanostructured architecture was initially supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) (DMR-1929356). Research on adsorption of contaminants was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy (DE-SC0022332) and by an internal catalyst award from Northwestern University’s McCormick School of Engineering. S.M.R. acknowledges support from 3M, the International Institute of Nanotechnology, the National Water Research Institute, and the American Membrane Technology Association. C.H. acknowledges support from the Meister Summer Research Award from the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Northwestern University. This material is based upon work supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Workforce Development for Teachers and Scientists, Office of Science Graduate Student Research (SCGSR) program. The SCGSR program is administered by the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education for the DOE under contract number DE-SC0014664. Additional support provided by Leslie and Mac McQuown and the Center for Engineering Sustainability and Resilience (CESR) at Northwestern University. This work made use of the EPIC, Keck-II, and Biocryo facilities of the NUANCE Center at Northwestern University, which has received support from the Soft and Hybrid Nanotechnology Experimental (SHyNE) Resource (ECCS-2025633); the MRSEC program (NSF DMR-1720139) at the Materials Research Center; the International Institute for Nanotechnology (IIN); the Keck Foundation; and the State of Illinois, through the IIN. Research reported in this publication was supported in part by instrumentation provided by the Office of The Director, National Institutes of Health, (Grant S10OD026871). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health. This work made use of the Jerome B. Cohen X-ray Diffraction Facility supported by the MRSEC program (NSF Grant DMR-1720139) at the Materials Research Center of Northwestern University and the SHyNE Resource (NSF Grant ECCS-2025633). Elemental analysis was performed at the Northwestern University Quantitative Bioelement Imaging Center. Nitrogen adsorption isotherm analysis was performed at the Northwestern Reactor Engineering and Catalyst Testing core facility. The authors also thank Dr. Roberto Dos Reis, Jack Hegarty, Mike L. Barsoum, and once again Rebecca Sponenburg for their invaluable guidance and support. The authors are extremely grateful for the assistance and advice from Northwestern University shared facilities, namely Rebecca Sponenburg and the QBIC staff, Tirzah Abbott and the NU ANCE staff, Neil Schweitzer and the REACT staff, Carla Shute and MatCI staff, and Jerrold Carsello and the Cohen X-ray diffraction facility staff. The research related to oxide nanostructured architecture was initially supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) (DMR-1929356). Research on adsorption of contaminants was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy (DE-SC0022332) and by an internal catalyst award from Northwestern University’s McCormick School of Engineering. S.M.R. acknowledges support from 3M, the International Institute of Nanotechnology, the National Water Research Institute, and the American Membrane Technology Association. C.H. acknowledges support from the Meister Summer Research Award from the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Northwestern University. This material is based upon work supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Workforce Development for Teachers and Scientists, Office of Science Graduate Student Research (SCGSR) program. The SCGSR program is administered by the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education for the DOE under contract number DE-SC0014664. Additional support provided by Leslie and Mac McQuown and the Center for Engineering Sustainability and Resilience (CESR) at Northwestern University. This work made use of the EPIC, Keck-II, and Biocryo facilities of the NU ANCE Center at Northwestern University, which has received support from the Soft and Hybrid Nanotechnology Experimental (SHyNE) Resource (ECCS-2025633); the MRSEC program (NSF DMR-1720139) at the Materials Research Center; the International Institute for Nanotechnology (IIN); the Keck Foundation; and the State of Illinois, through the IIN. Research reported in this publication was supported in part by instrumentation provided by the Office of The Director, National Institutes of Health, (Grant S10OD026871). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health. This work made use of the Jerome B. Cohen X-ray Diffraction Facility supported by the MRSEC program (NSF Grant DMR-1720139) at the Materials Research Center of Northwestern University and the SHyNE Resource (NSF Grant ECCS-2025633). Elemental analysis was performed at the Northwestern University Quantitative Bioelement Imaging Center. Nitrogen adsorption isotherm analysis was performed at the Northwestern Reactor Engineering and Catalyst Testing core facility. The authors also thank Dr. Roberto Dos Reis, Jack Hegarty, Mike L. Barsoum, and once again Rebecca Sponenburg for their invaluable guidance and support.
Keywords
- adsorption
- environmental remediation
- heavy metals
- microscopy
- nanotechnology
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Chemistry (miscellaneous)
- Chemical Engineering (miscellaneous)
- Environmental Chemistry
- Water Science and Technology
