Abdul Latif Jameel Water and Food Systems Lab (J-WAFS) has awarded the 2022 J-WAFS Solutions Grant. Patrick S. DoyleRobert T. Haslam Professor of Chemical Engineering at MIT, Innovative system to tackle water pollutionDoyle works with Co-Principal Investigator Rafael Gomez-Bombarelli, Assistant Professor of Materials Processing in the Department of Materials Science, and PhD students Devashish Gokhale and Tynan Perez.Construction of findings from 2019 J-WAFS Seed Grant, Doyle and research team create a cost-effective, industrial-scale process for removing trace contaminants from water. Work on the project will start this month.
The J-WAFS Solutions Program provides a one-year renewable commercialization grant to help move MIT technology from the lab to the market. Grants of up to $150,000 will be awarded to researchers with groundbreaking water and food technologies and inventions. Since its inception in 2015, the J-WAFS Solutions grant has led to seven of his spinout companies and helped commercialize two products as open source technology.The grant program is supported by community jameel.
pervasive problem
Micropollutants are pollutants that occur at low concentrations in the environment, but their continued exposure and bioaccumulation are a cause for concern. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the plastic derivative bisphenol A (BPA), the “forever chemical” perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), and heavy metals such as lead can be found in more than 85% of rivers. It is a known common trace contaminant. , ponds, and lakes. Many of these bodies of water are sources of drinking water. Long-term exposure to trace contaminants through drinking water can cause physiological damage in humans and increase the risk of cancer, developmental and reproductive disorders.
Because trace contaminants occur at low concentrations, their presence is difficult to detect and monitor, and the chemical diversity of trace contaminants makes them difficult to remove inexpensively from water. Currently, the industry standard for trace contaminant removal is activated carbon, but this method does not effectively remove contaminants at parts-per-billion and one-trillion concentrations. There are also strong sustainability issues associated with the production of activated carbon, which is energy intensive and releases large amounts of carbon dioxide.
Solutions that deliver social and economic benefits
Doyle and his team are developing a technology to remove trace contaminants from water using sustainable hydrogel microparticles. Polymeric hydrogel microparticles use chemically fixed structures such as micelles and other chelating agents that act like sponges by absorbing organic trace contaminants and heavy metal ions. Microparticles are large enough to be separated from water using simple gravitational sedimentation. The system is sustainable as the particles can be recycled and used continuously. Tests show that long-lasting reusable microparticles remove contaminants more quickly than commercial activated charcoal. The researchers plan to use machine learning to find the optimal particulate composition that maximizes performance on complex combinations of trace contaminants in simulated and real wastewater samples.
Economically, this technology is a novel product that can be applied to many large-scale markets where trace contaminant removal is essential, such as municipal and industrial water treatment equipment and domestic water purification systems. The J-WAFS Solutions grant will allow the team to build and test a prototype water treatment system, identify optimal use cases and customers, and conduct techno-economic analysis and market research to develop a preliminary business plan. can do. With J-WAFS commercialization support, the project may eventually lead to a start-up company.
MIT Professor Abdul Latif Jameel and J-WAFS Director John H. Lienhard said: “There is an urgent need for cost-effective and scalable technologies to remove trace pollutants. This project aims to improve water quality for millions of people by providing develop and commercialize promising new tools for
