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Abstract: Nanoscale carbon materials including tubes, sheets, and dots have interesting and, in many cases, unique optical, electronic, and thermal properties. We have been exploring these nanomaterials for various technologies, from bulk-separated metallic/semiconducting single-walled carbon nanotubes for electrical/electronic devices to carbon nanosheets for thermal and mechanical composites and carbon-based photoluminescent nanoparticles (?carbon dots?) as effective imaging-sensing agents and photocatalysts. In this talk, some interesting and representative recent results from our research will be highlighted.

Nanotechnology-Enabled Water Treatment:

A Vision to Enable Decentralized Water Treatment

Pedro J.J. Alvarez

Dept. of Civil & Environmental Engineering, Rice University, Houston, TX. 77005, USA

Through control over material size, morphology and chemical structure, nanotechnology offers novel materials that are nearly “all surface” and that can be more reactive per atom than bulk materials. Such engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) can offer superior catalytic, adsorptive, optical, electrical and/or antimicrobial properties that enable new technology platforms for next-generation water treatment. This presentation will address emerging opportunities for nanotechnology to meet a growing need for safer and more efficient decentralized water treatment and reuse. Because water is by far the largest waste stream of the energy industry, emphasis will be placed on technological innovation to enable produced water reuse in remote (off-grid) oil and gas fields or offshore platforms, to minimize freshwater withdrawals and disposal challenges. Examples of applicable nano-enabled technologies include fouling-resistant membranes with embedded ENMs that allow for self-cleaning and repair; capacitive deionization with highly conductive and selective electrodes to remove multivalent ions that precipitate or cause scaling; rapid magnetic separation using superparamagnetic nanoparticles; solar-thermal processes enabled by nanophotonics to desalinate with membrane distillation; disinfection and advanced oxidation using nanocatalysts; and nanostructured surfaces that discourage microbial adhesion and protect infrastructure against biofouling and corrosion. These enabling technologies can be used to develop compact modular water treatment systems that are easy to deploy and that can treat challenging waters to protect human lives and support sustainable economic development. 

Short Bio

Pedro J.J. Alvarez is the George R. Brown Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Rice University, where he also serves as Director of the NSF ERC on Nanotechnology-Enabled Water Treatment (NEWT). His research interests include environmental implications and applications of nanotechnology, bioremediation, fate and transport of toxic chemicals, water footprint of biofuels, water treatment and reuse, and antibiotic resistance control. Pedro received the B. Eng. Degree in Civil Engineering from McGill University and MS and Ph.D. degrees in Environmental Engineering from the University of Michigan. He is the 2012 Clarke Prize laureate and also won the 2014 AAEES Grand Prize for Excellence in Environmental Engineering and Science. Past honors include President of AEESP, the AEESP Frontiers in Research Award, the WEF McKee Medal for Groundwater Protection, the SERDP cleanup project of the year award, and various best paper awards with his students. Pedro currently serves on the advisory board of NSF Engineering Directorate and as Associate Editor of Environmental Science and Technology. He also serves on the Advisory Board of the Engineering Director of the National Science Foundation (NSF).

Abstract: Our group’s research focuses on directional interactions in ordered assemblies of organic semiconductors. Using tools of single-molecule spectroscopy, our approach is based on isolated crystalline nanowires where the nanowire itself plays a material role analogous to a single molecule, and optical polarization (in either absorption or emission) can be referenced to specific crystallographic directions. Of particular interest are timescales for mixing transverse and longitudinal polarizations which encode information on the (directional) interaction of different intermolecular coupling modes in the assembly. In this talk, I’ll summarize some recent work on isolated crystalline nanowires of an interesting small-molecule semiconductor called 7,8,15,16-tetraazaterrylene (TAT, for short) which display several unusual and exciting properties with applications to organic opto-electronics.

Abstract: Calcium is a universal second messenger that either directly controls, or at minimum influences, everything the human body does.  Nature has designed a plethora of calcium binding proteins to decode and relay the calcium signal into specific cellular action.  As an alternative strategy, nature has also conserved a single calcium-dependent switch, calmodulin that instead regulates a plethora of enzymes and ion channels.  Based on information we have gleaned from disease-associated mutations in the human isoform as well as how plants have evolved multiple isoforms of calmodulin, we are smartly reformulating calmodulin to palliate, or potentially even cure various electrical and contractile cardiovascular dysfunctions. Considering not all failing hearts have the same etiology, genetic background and co-morbidities, personalized therapies will need to be developed. We predict designer proteins will open doors for unprecedented personalized, and potentially, even generalized medicines as gene therapy or protein delivery techniques come to fruition. 

Abstract: My group’s focus at Battelle is in translational science – using new science discoveries to solve a broad range of industrial problems. The dominant theme is how to control the structure at materials interfaces to enable functionality, durability, and stability (and scalability). I will discuss two applications where materials advances have enabled new performance: a low-power, lightweight ice protection system for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and a beverage can that is functionalized to foam nitrogenated beers. Both take advantage of emerging nanotechnologies.

Icing is a serious problem for UAVs, but anti-icing systems designed for commercial aircraft are too heavy, bulky, or power . We have developed a light-weight, low power ice protection system based on conductive carbon nanotube (CNT) coatings. I will discuss the mechanisms of conduction in CNT networks, the approaches to dispersing CNTs, and our research that has created deposited morphologies with conductivity greater than 12,000 S/cm. I will describe the challenges of integrating these new materials into aircraft, and the approaches used to enhance their environmental stability, adhesion, and durability.

Nitrogenated beers are not supersaturated with CO2 and thus do not spontaneously foam upon opening the can; commercial products use mechanical means of generating foam. I will discuss the science behind the foaming of these beers and describe alternative approaches to replace mechanical widgets. 

Bio

Amy Heintz is a Senior Research Scientist at Battelle in Columbus, OH. Her main focus is to develop advanced materials, particularly to translate early stage research to products. She is the Principal Investigator on a portfolio of projects, and her clients have represented companies from medical device, aerospace, consumer product, building and construction, oil and gas, and electronics markets. She led two different strategic, internal R&D projects to grow new business offerings for Battelle: one in drug delivery devices and the other in advanced heaters for unmanned aerial vehicles. Both efforts resulted in successful maturation of technologies from TRL2 to TRL7. The ChemEngine™ provides power on demand to deliver protein formulations through a needle and is being commercialized with a pharmaceutical client. HeatCoat™ is a new anti-icing platform for aircraft that is now in preparation for flight demonstration. She has 7 issued patents and 14 patents pending related to advanced materials. She is the 2016 Battelle Inventor of the Year.

Dr. Heintz’s research focuses on phenomenon at dissimilar interfaces, specifically at organizing materials to tune adhesion, absorption and electron, phonon, or gas transport. Such phenomenon are of fundamental importance for a variety of applications such as solar cells, biosensors, drug delivery, wound healing, and thermal management. Her team has generated novel nanoscale or multiscale topographies to create materials of immediate practical importance, such as coatings that promote foaming in nitrogenated beer. Her research has also examined the use of long range interactions to provide morphological control, including modification in situ. In one such example, these interactions were used to control the aggregation of proteins to create low viscosity protein formulations. In another, she developed new electrically conductive hyaluronic acid biomaterial with tunable gelation properties.  Generally, her research is applied to solve proprietary challenges of commercial customers. She maintains an active research group in the area of carbon nanomaterials.

Abstract: Nanopores are miniaturized electrical sensors with arguably the smallest detection volumes (sub-yoctometers, or below 10^-24 m³).[1]Detection of molecules using nanopores involves electrical monitoring of ion current flow through a pore using a pair of electrodes placed across the nanopore-containing membrane. Our group focuses on the use of nanopores that range from 1 to 10 nm in all dimensions (diameter and thickness). We fabricate such nanopores using a combination of state-of-the-art ultrathin membrane fabrication and focused electron beam irradiation using a transmission electron microscope. Recently, we have found that nanopore dimensions critically determine the quality of detection and discrimination of biomolecules. I will talk about our efforts to distinguish different types of tRNA molecules, RNA-drug complexes,[2]and proteins[3]. In addition, I will mention our efforts to control DNA transport through nanopores, useful for genomic mapping.[4]Finally, I will mention our studies that probe nucleosomal interactions and influence by epigenetic factors,[5]as well as our latest efforts in combining nanopores and optical waveguides for direct DNA sequencing from picogram-level genetic material

We present examples from our group where biophysical chemistry impacts unsolved problems in infectious diseases and auto-immune diseases. We start with bacterial biofilms, which are structured multi-cellular communities that are fundamental to the biology and ecology of bacteria. By using population tracking algorithms, we dissect bacterial social behavior at the single cell level.  We will also discuss how we can learn from innate immunity peptides to renovate antibiotic design, and make precision antibiotics and antibiotics against persister bacterial populations. Finally, we examine the pathological role of antimicrobial peptides in a range of autoimmune disorders.