KC Donnelly Externship Admin Supplement for Francisco Leniz P42ES007380 UKSRC

KC Donnelly for Francisco Leniz PD/PI: Kelly Pennell Abstract The challenge of providing drinkable water to the world population, and its close relation to the need of purifying natural water from contaminants has been present throughout the history of the humankind. As part of the Project 3 at the UKSRC, “Responsive Membranes and Advanced Materials for Sensing and Remediation of Halo-organics”, we have been working on the development of multifunctional materials toward the increase of separation rates, more energy efficient, and portable technologies. Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) were our case of study in our previous manuscript. Bringing together Project 3 at the UKSRC and Project 4 from MEMCARE at Yale University, “Designing the next generation of highly selective sorbents for water remediation”, means merging teams’ efforts with a common goal, the remediation of water for the society. Recently, Project 4 from MEMCARE has focused on developing selective adsorbents for the separation of Arsenic in water from non-contaminant competitors. Our knowledge on synthesis of multifunctional platform can provide intriguing opportunities for the integration of these adsorbents. Overall, this experience will expand my understanding of separation technologies and the transport mechanisms of solutes through these, for the application of a broader range of contaminants in water, from organic to inorganic anions. The pore-functionalized adsorptive nanofiltration membranes, with the integration of highly selective adsorbents, is hypothesized to bring new high separation rates in a more compact fashion, which can benefit people and communities by easing the portability of this technology.