UNF faculty focus research on carbon dioxide removal to alleviate effects of climate change

UNF faculty members Dr. Florentino De la Cruz, assistant professor of civil engineering, and Dr. Benjamin Williams, assistant professor of chemistry, have started their UNF tenures with great promise.

The two met during a new faculty orientation event in summer 2023, and discovered they shared complementary research interests and discussed plans for a joint research project.

Earlier this year in February, the pair were awarded a Seed Grant from the UNF Institute of Environmental Research and Education (IERE) for their research project titled "Carbon Capture and Storage from Landfill Gas using Metal Organic Framework Coupled with Enhanced Weathering with Combustion Residuals."

The two serve as co-principal investigators on the project.

The project's goal is to help stop harmful climate change by limiting global warming to the target temperature of 1.5 degrees Celsius per the 2015 Paris Agreement. To achieve this goal, the following two objectives are being explored: (a) developing ways to add value to wastes using coal combustion residuals for isolating biogenic carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and (b) developing a process for carbon dioxide removal by reacting CO2with metal-rich wastes to form carbonates that can be stored long term.

According to De la Cruz, once carbon dioxide is isolated, it can be catalytically convertedto other fuels - offering potential solutions for various industries through the production of renewable/low-carbon-intensive fuel. The initiative not only addresses environmental concerns but also explores economic opportunities, considering the projected $50 billion carbon market by 2030.

Since beginning their research efforts earlier in February, De La Cruz and Williams have successfully made strides toward completing their objectives. Thus far, they have characterized the ash from coal combustion residuals and found it contains metal ions and other materials suitable for carbon removal. In addition, they have successfully synthesized the metal organic framework (MOF) that will be used for the separation of methane and CO2. At the present time, they are building a column reactor to evaluate the equilibrium and transport properties that are essential to converting CO2to other fuels.

Thankful for the IERE's support, both are excited to collaborate again on future projects.

"I am grateful for the support of the IERE," said De la Cruz. "This will help kickstart our research and get graduate and undergraduate students involved."

Williams concurred and said the support received from the IERE has amplified his excitement for the project as well.

"I am gratified that we have the opportunity to put our ideas into action."

About the project's principal investigators

De la Cruz, who has been awarded as an outstanding teacher of environmental engineering, is also an experienced researcher in areas such as water and wastewater treatment, waste management and remediation. He applies tools from chemical and environmental engineering to design approaches to protect human health and the environment. A leading researcher of environmental engineering, he recently contributed his insights to articles in POLITICO Proand Science Newsabout per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) - contaminated residuals management from water and wastewater treatment, as well as on landfill methane emissions. He has spent more than five years devoting his research efforts to Biomass Carbon Removal and Storage (BiCRS). In this space, he collaborates with other experts from public and private institutions in developing methodologies for terrestrial and ocean storage of biomass. He came to UNF after previous appointments at Purdue University and North Carolina State University. De la Cruz is excited to continue his research exploring carbon dioxide removal pathways such as enhanced mineralization.

Williams is a materials chemist whose research lies at the cross section of physical chemistry and materials science with an emphasis on designing composite catalysts for sustainable energy applications. He came to UNF following a postdoctoral position at Boston College, where his research covered a wide range of sustainable technologies, including lithium-metal batteries and fuel cell catalysts. He currently teaches courses in both physical and general chemistry. For his role in the project, Williams provides metal-organic framework material that absorbs carbon dioxide. He focuses on optimizing the tunable structure of the metal-organic framework to selectively capture carbon dioxide in the presence of other greenhouse gases, like methane.

Student involvement

Assisting in the project are five student researchers - Happiness Mbando (M.S. in civil engineering), Ulyana Damme (B.S. in civil engineering), Ross Bolton (B.S. in civil engineering), Alex Hays (B.S. in civil engineering)and Reagan Elia (B.S. in chemistry). Both professors emphasize the vital role students play in the success of this research endeavor. De la Cruz says the research project involves considerable student participation in many essential tasks from conducting experiments and data analyses to writing reports.

"We want to provide our undergraduate researchers with experience that will prepare them should they decide to pursue graduate studies," De La Cruz said.

Williams says that insight from students in research projects is quite beneficial.

"I appreciate the fresh perspective that student researchers bring to a project," said Williams. "They often notice opportunities that are overlooked by those who have done experiments a particular way for a long time."

What happens next?

Throughout the upcoming year, De la Cruz and Williams plan to meet all of their deliverables with the goal of publishing a peer-reviewed article and securing more funding for further research. Experiments are conducted in the De la Cruz Environmental Research Lab at UNF, located in Skinner-Jones Hall (Building 4). Additional research tasks are conducted in other campus facilities including the Materials Science and Engineering Research Facility.

About Faculty Seed Grants

The competitive, merit-based Seed Grants are awarded annually to UNF faculty members to stimulate and "seed" the creation of environmentally related research and inspire effective collaboration between faculty and students in diverse disciplines.

The grants provided to faculty by IERE are community-supported and funded entirely by donors. This year's program is supported by the River Branch Foundation and Vulcan Material Company Foundation.

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