Nanotechnology is employed in research with promising results to enhance water quality and transform water treatment technology.
Justin Clar, a chemistry professor at Elon University, has been interested in water treatment since graduate school, working on multiple projects about drinking water before taking a class on how nanotechnology works in the environment.“I took a class called environmental nanotechnology, where I met two different professors at the University of Florida and had a conversation with them,” Clar said. “I kind of developed this project surrounding nanotechnology and the environmental implications of it.”
His work on nanotechnology at Elon University actively involves students in undergraduate research. The summer undergraduate research experience, known as SURE, is an eight-week program that focuses solely on research, providing a platform for students to contribute to their field of study.
A biochemistry junior researcher at Elon University has worked with Justin Clar for a year and on a project for the entire summer. His junior researcher’s projects involve making composites composed of multiple nanoparticles, “so that we can deploy these kinds of water treatment options in different places, and we can change the mixture of the types of particles we’re putting in these support structures to treat different types of chemicals in different types of environments,” Clar said.
Nanotechnology is versatile and better than current water treatment technology because it is more effective at finding particulates. Nano-sized filter membranes have more surface area, which can absorb more particulate matter in water. Then, these filters can separate the particles from the water treated.
Clar and his junior researcher handle nanotechnology. They incorporate the research by creating samples based on what they see in the environment and testing scenarios to separate those chemicals from the water.
“We do a lot of what’s called bucket chemistry, which is we take our absorbance and we take our chemicals, we throw them in a bucket, and we let them mix, and then we separate them, and we measure,” Clar said.
This task takes less time, though Clar noted they have not used natural water sources, which differ from lab samples that contain inorganic material created for the researchers’ study, such as lead or nitrates. Water from natural sources can have thousands of different particles, which complicates nanotechnology’s analytical process.
Clar said the time may be longer but more cost-effective. With less physical material, nanotechnology replacements are lower. Costs will also depend on the type of treatment needed using nanotechnology. Clar has yet to set a timeline for when a large-scale operation could be up and running.
He said nanotechnology had a rough start with how it would interact with the environment.
“There was a fear early on about how nanoparticles could cause problems environmentally,” Clar said. “I think that is very few in the grand scheme of things.”
The treatment plants handling water would have an easier time removing certain particles, he said, “but in your water, if you’re designing a treatment system to use nanoparticles, it would be designed so that those particles are not leaving the treatment system. What nanotechnology has allowed us to do is create more effective of those same tools.”
Carter Frank
Carter Frank resides in Sanford, North Carolina, where he was born and raised. He lives there with his family and currently attends Lee Early College. He takes high school classes but will also complete two years of college at Central Carolina Community College, where he will graduate with an associate in arts degree and a high school diploma. He is part of both Phi Theta Kappa and National Honor Society. He enjoys writing about socioeconomic issues, especially in his hometown, and researching foreign politics. He also likes to read and help other people with their writing.