Award Data

Annually over 8 million tons of plastic flows into the ocean causing an estimated $13 Billion damage to marine ecosystems. Microplastic particles (MP) are those with diameters

Trace organic compounds are a major challenge for water reuse. N-nitrosamines and NDMA in particular are of concern because they occur in treated wastewaters at levels closest to those of potential human health concern. These are formed as a disinfection byproducts (DBPs) in treatment processes used in water recycling. NDMA limits and monitoring requirements are included in most permitting require ...

The growing scarcity of potable water is increasing pressure on public health, the environment, and the economy, intensifying the clear and present need to advance water recycling and reclamation technologies. To that end, the EPA and has announced the National Water Reuse Action Plan (WRAP). Annual spending on water reuse is $1.8 billion, expected to increase by ~30% by 2027. As the water reuse m ...

This proposal addresses the need for continuous microbial monitoring in water reuse treatment systems. The proposal will lead to a near-real-time, in-situ, reagentless sensor for potable and non-potable water systems. LITMUS (Laser-based Insitu Testing of Microbes with Ultraviolet Spectroscopy) uses deep UV laser excitation to directly detect microbes from the autofluorescence of protein-bound aro ...

In this Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) effort, Nikira Labs Inc. proposes to utilize open-path, mid-infrared cavity enhanced absorption spectrometry to develop a sensitive (< 10 ppt), fast (< 100 seconds), and highly-selective ethylene oxide (EtO) analyzer suitable for field-deployment. The US EPA has concluded that EtO, which is widely used in ethylene glycol production and medical ster ...

The proposed device is a compact, portable, and robust battery-powered analytical instrument for monitoring of ultra-low concentrations of various VOCs in complex backgrounds. Our technology is based on principles of analytical gas chromatography (GC), utilizes scrubbed ambient air as carrier gas and a novel highly integrated multisensory platform as a detector. Due to the implementation of a mult ...

This project will trial thermochemical techniques to recycle construction and demolition debris wood (C&D) into a low-greenhouse gas transportation fuel, while safely sequestering arsenic from C&D contaminants such as copper chromated arsenate (CCA) treated lumber. The amount of C&D wood waste going to landfill each year is not trivial. According to the EPA's latest Sustainable Materials Manageme ...

The Need + Current Technologies: Right now, most walls and wall systems built in the US release carbon into the atmosphere for their production (embodied carbon). Considering that the current climate crisis is worsened by carbon, these wall systems must be designed to store and sequester carbon. Carbon-storing bio-based wall systems, such as straw bale construction, do exist on the residential ma ...

ABSTRACT: A novel human coronavirus, which causes severe acute respiratory disease, now known as SARSCoV-2 emerged in December 2019. Infection with SARS-CoV-2 spread rapidly worldwide and on 11 March 2020 it was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization. As of 4 September 2020, there are over 26 million confirmed cases of coronavirus infectious disease (COVID-19) caused by this new viru ...

ABSTRACT: Tuberculosis (TB) remains one of the most challenging diseases with ten million new cases and two million deaths yearly, and severe problems due to underdiagnosis and inadequate testing. A point-of-care (PoC) test for all kinds of TB that is sensitive, quick, simple, and not sputum-based is urgently needed. The most promising avenue to accomplish this is an immunoassay based on the TB bi ...