1. Seminar Series
Fall 2016
Center for Environmental Research, Education and Outreach
Materials at the Nanoscale: Opportunities and Challenges for Sustainable Environment
Providing an adequate supply of potable water is one of the grand challenges in the current century due to climate change, population and industrial growth. Sustainable, and energy efficient water treatment technologies are needed to combat global challenges in water sustainability. The ever expanding development of nanotechnology is creating exciting opportunities for novel environmental applications with tremendous potential for sustainable solutions to these challenges. Growing areas for the application of nanotechnology are water reuse, membrane, water quality monitoring, and remediation. Furthermore, as industry embraces nanotechnology, aquatic ecosystems face unknown consequences from the introduction of these nanoscale materials into the environment. In this seminar, opportunities and challenges of nanomaterials for sustainable environment will be discussed. The focus of this seminar will be on two dimensional nanomaterials, particularly graphene. Graphene nanomaterials are considered for numerous applications in the electronic, medical, energy, and environmental sectors, including as membranes, catalysts, and coatings, where these materials are highly susceptible to degradation by sunlight and disinfectants. In this seminar, environmental degradation mechanisms of graphene materials will be discussed. Applications of two dimensional materials for antifouling membranes and removal of emerging pollutants (hexavalent chromium and perfluorooctanoic acid) will also be presented. .
Dr. Chowdhury is an Assistant Professor in the Civil & Environmental Engineering Department at WSU. He received his PhD in Chemical and Environmental Engineering from UC-Riverside and was a post-doctoral research in the USEPA ORD National Exposer Research Laboratory (NERL) in Athens, GA. His research focuses on environmental applications and implications of nanotechnology in the context of water infrastructure, food-energy-water nexus, and climate change. This includes looking at the fate, transport, and removal of emerging contaminants in water, soil, and sediment as well as water quality and treatment, nanoscale surface interactions, and stormwater management.
Wed. Nov 2, 2016 | 3:10 pm | PACCAR Bldg (PETB) Room 202
Dr. Indranil Chowdhury, Civil & Environmental Engineering, WSU