Invasive species or sustainable water filters? A student-led laboratory investigation into locally sourced biomass-based adsorbents for sustainable water treatment
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Michael Berger
Abstract
Designing sustainable products requires a holistic consideration of issues at the Food-Energy-Water Nexus. One of the world’s greatest challenges is to insure clean water access for all inhabitants. Across the globe, communities often suffer from metal contamination in their water. We must develop low-cost, sustainable materials to treat this contamination, without putting undue stress on other systems. Biomass-based carbon adsorbents are often touted as one potential solution, but to be sustainable the biomass must be locally sourced, not grown on land that could be used to cultivate food, not require extensive water to grow, and not need undue amounts of energy to process. In this laboratory investigation, students were challenged to use a locally available, problematic biomass – phragmites, an invasive species in the Muddy River in Boston, Massachusetts – to develop a green adsorbent to remove metals from water. Specifically, students focused on the removal of manganese, as it is a local problem for several Massachusetts communities. Students activated the phragmites biomass using a room and low (40 °C) temperature KOH treatment, which opened the porous network of the reed to enable adsorption of Mn+2 upwards of 8 mg/g of biomass. In doing this experiment, students were exposed to the concept of adsorption, a separation process not often covered in the traditional chemistry curriculum. Students gained experience in performing adsorption isotherm experiments using atomic adsorption spectroscopy and UV–Vis spectrophotometry and learned to analyze data within adsorption isotherm models. Finally, students made connections between their laboratory data and adsorption theory, and how this data can be used to design greener materials to address environmental issues.
Acknowledgements
The authors thank R. Jayne for assistance with SEM images. The authors gratefully acknowledge the Summer Undergraduate Research Program at Simmons and the Simmons College Department of Chemistry and Physics, as well as the contributions of sophomores B. Boschetti and E. Robinson, and the entire CHEM 115 freshman class. A portion of this material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. NSF CMMI Award 1727316.
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Articles in the same Issue
- Introduction: hydrogen storage as solution for a changing energy landscape
- Complexes between core-modified porphyrins ZnP(X)4 (X = P and S) and small semiconductor nanoparticle Zn6S6: are they possible?
- Battery concepts: The past, the present, and research highlights
- Invasive species or sustainable water filters? A student-led laboratory investigation into locally sourced biomass-based adsorbents for sustainable water treatment
- Computational analysis and identification of battery materials
- Synthesis and characterization of size- and shape-controlled silver nanoparticles
- The development of a bioenergy-based green chemistry curriculum for high schools
- Reagents that Contain Se-H or Te-H Bonds
- Recent advances in the application of carbohydrates as renewable feedstocks for the synthesis of nitrogen-containing compounds
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Articles in the same Issue
- Introduction: hydrogen storage as solution for a changing energy landscape
- Complexes between core-modified porphyrins ZnP(X)4 (X = P and S) and small semiconductor nanoparticle Zn6S6: are they possible?
- Battery concepts: The past, the present, and research highlights
- Invasive species or sustainable water filters? A student-led laboratory investigation into locally sourced biomass-based adsorbents for sustainable water treatment
- Computational analysis and identification of battery materials
- Synthesis and characterization of size- and shape-controlled silver nanoparticles
- The development of a bioenergy-based green chemistry curriculum for high schools
- Reagents that Contain Se-H or Te-H Bonds
- Recent advances in the application of carbohydrates as renewable feedstocks for the synthesis of nitrogen-containing compounds
- Synthesis and coordination chemistry of cyclic seleno- and telluroureas
- Shape-controlled metal nanoparticles for electrocatalytic applications
