STTR Phase I: Up-Cycling: Waste Acid for Green Products

This STTR Phase I project will develop a process to produce silica products from the waste stream of a patent pending activated carbon manufacturing process (carbonxt process). The project focuses on using the silica for Silica-Titania Composites but would also take into account markets that employ precipitated or gel silica which would have differing properties than the silica used in Silica-Titania Composites.
The broader/commercial impact of the project will be the characterization of the carbon activation waste stream that allows for better understanding of how to reuse as much of the waste product as possible while opening a marketing avenue for the waste instead of paying for disposal of valuable material. There is significant demand for silica products in the United States. The targeted product lines would aim to eliminate various pollution hazards and thereby provide a benefit to society. The sustainable nature of the process would prevent the loss of valuable material to landfills. The characterization of the waste stream might also lead to other marketable material recovery in the future.