Faculty and students at WMU develop novel and sustainable method for treating pollutants in water
From left to right are Mario Camilo Lizardo, Neha Sawant, Dr. Guadalupe Perez, Sara Cacares, Carin Garcia and Dr. Mert Atilhan.
A team of researchers at Western Michigan University, including graduate and undergraduate students, have developed a cost-effective, environmentally friendly and efficient method for treating water contaminated with toxic pollutants that can harm both humans and the environment.
The research has been accepted for publication by the Journal of Water Process Engineering, a peer-reviewed, international academic journal of high-impact research on the sustainable engineering of water and wastewater treatment processes.
“We recently published a patent on the same line of work that made the water process even better and more economical by implementing new filters,” says Dr. Mert Atilhan, associate professor of chemical and paper engineering. “Our long-term goal is to come up with scalable and sustainable solutions to long-pressing water contamination and treatment problems that include PFAS, personal care products and microplastics in water.”
Led by Atilhan, the team also included three graduate and six undergraduate students from WMU and one high school student from the Kalamazoo Area Math and Science Center (KAMSC). The team worked collaboratively to test a large list of new materials for their performance in treating phenolic compounds in water. Phenolic compounds are toxic pollutants that frequently end up in water treatment plants through industrial processes, agricultural runoff and wastewater from manufacturing plants. Their study developed a range of hydrophobic deep eutectic solvents (HDES) that improve the extraction of these contaminants from water while also being environmentally sustainable and cost effective.
KAMSC student Abrar Hossen competed with this work at the 2024 Stockholm Junior Water Prize (SJWP) and as the winner for the state of Michigan, he represented Michigan at the national SJWP competition at the Colorado School of Mines in June 2024.
“Undergraduate research is essential for developing engineers because it provides hands-on experience, enhancing their problem-solving skills and critical thinking abilities,” says Atilhan. “By offering them a home base in our labs and allowing them to participate in research projects, we catalyze their growth. This opportunity not only deepens their understanding of engineering concepts but also prepares them for advanced studies and successful careers in the field.”
Mario Camilo Lizardo, an undergraduate student studying chemical engineering, was part of the team that focused on sample preparation, testing and data collection.
“Conducting research has helped put the content from my coursework into perspective,” says Camilo Lizardo. “This experience provided tangible examples that helped me improve the kind of reasoning I use during classes, especially those related to thermodynamics and transport phenomena.”
Noor Alomari, M.S.E.’24, another researcher on the project, is a doctoral student studying chemical engineering and appreciates what undergraduate researchers bring to the project.
“I still remember most things I learned through my research project [during undergrad] and this is my main motivation for sharing many of the practical and transferable skills through my research work with undergraduate students,” says Alomari. “It also helps me stay connected to practical lab research and keep up to date with methodological aspects.”
The article titled “Enhanced water purification with hydrophobic natural deep eutectic solvents focused on phenolic compounds removal” will be published in an upcoming edition of the Journal of Water Process Engineering. In addition to Alomari, Camilo Lizardo, Hossen and Atilhan, the other authors on the article include:
- WMU graduate students: Abigail Maletta, B.S.E.’23, M.S.E.’24; Neha Sawant, M.S.E.’24
- WMU undergraduate students: Juan Aguilar, B.S.E.’24, Sara Caceres, Carin Garcia, Raquel Ogando, Maria Velez, B.S.E.’24
- Dr. James Springstead, associate professor of chemical and paper engineering, WMU
- Dr. Santiago Aparicio, professor of physical chemistry, University of Burgos (Spain)
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