Environmental Impact of CNT's:  Assessment of CNT's on Wastewater

Xiaoqi (Jackie) Zhang,  Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering

This exploratory research will explore, for the first time, the impacts of CNTs on wastewater treatment processes. Novel methods for examining the interactions between CNTs and activated sludge flocs will be developed. The impacts of CNTs on the overall wastewater treatment system efficacy and the potential pass through of CNTs will be determined. In addition, the fate and transport of CNTs under normal wastewater treatment conditions and the presence of toxic heavy metals will be determined as well to provide better understanding of the impacts of CNTs on activated sludge process. The outcomes gained and experimental approach used in this research will be published to provide guidelines for environmental impact studies of nanomanufacturing in other natural systems (i.e. groundwater, air, soil, etc.). The proposed study will produce most fundamental and critical technical data needed for evaluating the environmental impacts of large-scale nanomanufacutring and assessing the regulatory policy issues related to nanotechnology development. This research will contribute to the overall development and advancement of sustainable nanomanufacturing.