Award Data

VISIMO’s ML Toolkit for Grey Literature Screening will reduce bias in, and improve accuracy of, systematic reviews (SRs) for chemical risk assessment. Grey literature is notoriously difficult to screen and tag, and despite its importance, researchers often exclude grey literature from their SRs due to necessity. VISIMO’s Toolkit will enable researchers to filter full documents of all types and ...

The COVID-19 pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2 has exposed weaknesses in society’s ability to rapidly respond to a global public health problem. SARS-CoV-2 and variants are highly contagious and can cause mild to extremely severe disease and death. It is believed that the main route for transmission is aerosol droplets naturally discharged from an infected person. XCMR is developing breakthrough res ...

As the single largest consumer of materials and energy use worldwide, the construction sector remains a prime target for materials reuse reform. (Krausmann et al., 2009; De Ia Rue du Can & Price, 2008). Construction and ongoing operation of the built environment extracts a significant amount of resources -- and on an ongoing basis. According to the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), buildings ac ...

This project will develop an engineered soil product and process that repurpose waste-stream glass into soil suitable for horticultural and green infrastructure projects. The project supports the EPA's goal to improve sustainable materials management. Recycling of solid waste materials, like glass, remains challenging to cities due to costs of recycling in comparison to landfill disposal. Process ...

Acidic metal-contaminated mine water impacts tens of thousands of miles of streams in the US. Treatment requires neutralization of acidity followed by precipitation and management of the metals. Conventional mine water treatment systems use lime (CaO) or caustic (NaOH) to generate acid-neutralizing alkalinity. The high cost of these conventional technologies has contributed to the bankruptcies of ...

Fats, oils and greases (FOGs) cause 75% of sewer systems in the US to operate at 50% capacity, cost US cities over $20 billion in sewer maintenance, and cause over 40,000 sewer overflows annually. Most commercial kitchens are required by law to remove FOGs with a grease interceptor from wastewater before emitting into public sewers. In order to reduce sewer maintenance costs and overflows while in ...

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) have emerged as a pervasive and persistent threat to drinking water throughout the world. Called ‘forever chemicals” because their high stability leads PFAS to build up in the environment. PFAS accumulates in the blood from exposures and is associated with various cancers and other illnesses. There is an urgent need for a technology that can both remo ...

This project will develop an engineered soil product, and engineered process, that repurposes city-wide waste-stream glass into a soil product suitable for horticultural and green infrastructure projects. The project supports the EPA's goal to improve sustainable materials management to conserve materials and resources. Recycling of solid waste materials, like glass, remains challenging to urban s ...

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project will perform some needed tests for commercialization of the highly PFAS-selective nanofiber mats fabricated from electrospun polymer nanofibers. The Phase I results have shown the proof of concept for two materials developed for the removal of PFOA and PFOS with over 91% efficiency at very high concentrations (ppm level) and 99% at lo ...

Contamination by per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) has become an immense environmental issue in the US in recent years. PFAS are a group of man-made chemicals, the most common being perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), that are very persistent in the environment and cause adverse health effects in humans upon exposure. This year, 610 locations in 43 states, ...